Dubai/Nairobi, 7 February
2006 - Countries and cities that adopt air
pollution busting measures can make significant
economic savings, the latest GEO Year Book
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) says.
Economic gains include cuts in premature
deaths and lower health care costs, as the
toll from pollution-related diseases is
brought down.
Other benefits come from reduced damage
to agriculture and ecosystems like forests,
along with less damage to infrastructure
and public buildings from corrosive pollutants.
Energy generation and use is a major source
of air pollution. Overall, the economic
benefits of tackling air pollution are likely
to be six times higher than costs of introducing
pollution control measures in factories,
power stations and cars, says the Year Book.
The findings come from work by the United
States’ Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the experiences of Mexico City
and Santiago, Chile.
The US EPA for example estimates that the
benefits of America’s Clean Air Act will
be around US$ 690 billion over the period
11000 to 2010.
The Santiago study assessed the financial
benefits of compliance with the Santiago
Decontamination Plan at US$ 4 billion over
a 15-year period.
They mirror a new report by the European
Commission on achieving improved air quality
standards by 2020.
The Commission estimates that an investment
of around seven billion Euros to reduce
air pollution will deliver benefits totalling
Euro 42 billion as a result of “fewer premature
deaths, less sickness, fewer hospital admissions
and improved labour productivity”.
The Commission’s study says that “although
there is no agreed way to monetize ecosystem
damage, the environmental benefits of reduced
air pollution will also be significant in
terms of reduced areas of ecosystems that
may be damaged by acidification, eutrophication
and ozone”.
The report estimates that meeting new targets
will reduce damage to agricultural crops
by Euro 0.3 billion a year.
The issue of the costs and benefits of fighting
energy-related air pollution is highlighted
in UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook Year
Book 2006.
The GEO Year Book, including its Feature
Focus on Energy and Air Pollution, is being
presented to environment ministers attending
the Special Session of UNEP’s Governing
Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
this week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Here, energy is among the key issues under
discussion along with tourism, and boosting
the capacity and technologies in developing
countries so they can meet growing environmental
challenges—the so-called Bali Strategic
Plan.
Klaus Toepfer, UNEP’s Executive Director,
said: “The world is crying out for more
energy in order to lift people out of poverty
and deliver the internationally agreed Millennium
Development Goals. But we know that we cannot
rely on the energy structures of the past
if we are to deliver a healthy environmentally
stable world”.
“We need to urgently diversify the world’s
energy and electricity-generation base,
we need to promote energy efficiency, we
must foster more efficient and cleaner fossil
fuel use alongside renewables and we must
bring power to the rural areas,” he said.
“Governments must set the framework in which
everyone—from business and industry to local
authorities, trade unions and the private
citizens—plays their part. The benefits,
as the new GEO Year Book shows, are potentially
huge, covering health, environment, improved
management of natural resources, reducing
the risks of climate change and, last but
not in least, improved security regionally,
nationally and at the level of households,”
said Mr Toepfer.
Key Findings from the GEO Year Book 2006
The GEO Indicators, which present a snapshot
of humanity’s progress in managing our planetary
habitat, support the findings that rising
greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in
ecosystem change, such as accelerating ice
thickness losses of mountain glaciers, and
that increasing exploitation of fisheries
stocks is leading to serious depletion.
However, they also show that where action
has been taken, there are positive results.
The global consumption of chlorofluorocarbons,
for instance, continues to decrease. The
proportion of the Earth's surface affording
some form of environmental protection to
biodiversity continues to increase.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, concluded
in 2005, found that approximately 60 per
cent of the ecosystem services examined
were degraded or used unsustainably. In
particular, about 25 per cent of commercially
important fish stocks were over-harvested
and up to 25 per cent of global fresh water
use exceeds long-term accessible supplies.
Due to population growth and rising incomes,
consumption of fish more than tripled from
1961 to 2001, rising from 28 to 96 million
tonnes. With a large proportion of fish
stocks already over-exploited, a number
of countries are turning to marine fish
farms to meet the rising demand for fish
and shellfish.
Marine fish farming can supply rising demand,
but sustainable practices are needed to
reduce current levels of environmental damage.
Fertilizer, undigested feed, biological
waste and veterinary drugs used in marine
fish farms are released into the oceans
and surrounding waterways. Marine fish farms
also create conditions for the spread of
diseases and parasites, and – through the
escape of farmed fish – introduce invasive
species.
Climate change is expected to affect food
production. Although the overall global
net impact is difficult to predict, it is
expected that many developing countries
in tropical regions may suffer increased
climate-related difficulties and increased
variability of rainfall.
While climate change mitigation is necessary
to avoid negative impacts on global food
production, adaptive measures will also
be needed, as some degree of climate change
is inevitable. A ‘Green Planet Revolution’
in crops and agricultural technology, with
a focus on crops better suited to changing
environmental conditions, could help reduce
negative impacts.
Key Findings on Energy and Pollution from
the GEO Year Book 2006
Two thirds of future growth in energy demand
is expected to come from developed countries
where at least 1.6 billion people are without
access to electricity in their homes.
Over half of people in developing countries
still rely on biofuel, including wood, dung
and agricultural wastes, for cooking and
heating, most of which is burnt indoors.
Between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the
fuel used in households on biomass stoves
is not fully burnt, triggering a wide range
of harmful air-borne pollutants.
Globally, indoor air pollution from fuels
like charcoal is ranked in the top ten causes
of mortality (or premature deaths) along
with unsafe sex, high blood pressure and
lack of malaria control.
Indoor air pollution may be responsible
for up to 2.4 million premature deaths a
year.
Key air pollutants, both indoors and outdoors,
are fine particles which are linked with
respiratory problems and heart attacks.
In homes burning biomass, particle levels
can be between 300 to 3,000 microgrammes
per cubic metre. The European Union guideline
is 40 microgrammes per cubic metre.
Surveys of Asian cities indicate that 18
have average annual concentrations of particles
above the EU limit.
Outdoor air pollution from industries and
vehicles may trigger some 800,000 premature
deaths a year with 65 per cent occurring
in the developing countries of Asia.
The Way Forward
The Year Book argues that there are huge
efficiency gains possible from conventional
power generation.
Conventional power stations waste between
40-65 and per cent of the energy generated,
losing it as heat.
Combined Heat and Power plants, in which
part of the lost heat is used for industrial
processes or as district heating schemes
considerably reduces these losses.
Numerous other technologies are available
to reduce harmful emissions. For example
"fabric filters and electrostatic precipitators”
used in the industry and power sector can
reduce particle pollution by as much as
99 per cent.
The Year Book also suggests that renewables,
such as wind, solar and modern biomass-based
fuels and electricity generation, are already
competitive with fossil fuels like coal
and oil if their wider environmental, social
and fuel security benefits are factored
in.
It also highlights the success of micro
and mini hydropower systems for providing
much need electricity in rural areas. For
example in Nepal, 150 micro hydropower plants
generating two Megawatts of electricity
are providing electricity to 15,000 families.
Biogas, produced by anaerobic digestion
of wastes like dung, is also proving a success
story in Nepal. Here 110,000 biogas plants
have been installed for households with
a further 20,000 being installed annually
by private firms.
The success of this programme stems from
simple, easily copied designs along with
good after-sales service, financial incentives
for small firms and the availability of
subsidies of up to US$ 150 per household
backed up by affordable micro-credit schemes.
The Year Book says that cleaner burning
fuels, like liquid petroleum gas and kerosene,
can deliver big improvements in indoor air
quality in developing countries. This in
turn could lead to huge health gains for
the most vulnerable groups, namely women
and children.
A survey of different indoor fuels shows
that burning crop wastes produces about
100 times more particles than using a cleaner
fuel like kerosene or liquid petroleum gas.
In the transport sector, tougher standards
known as Euro 6 are being discussed for
heavy duty vehicles in Europe, which could
lead to particulate and nitrogen oxide reductions
of between 50 per cent and 90 per cent,
alongside big reductions in other pollutants.
Tougher measures are also being adopted
in developing countries with large parts
of Latin America and Asia on track to meet
lower, but nevertheless important, new targets
mirroring earlier European Union targets
by 2010.
For example, cities like Delhi and Bangkok
have shifted vehicle fleets to cleaner fuels
like compressed natural gas or liquefied
petroleum gas.
Meanwhile new vehicle technologies such
as hybrid cars can have a role. The first
ones, introduced in Japan in the late 11000s,
increased fuel efficiency by 11 km per litre.
New ones have improved efficiency by up
to 22 km per litre.
There is also renewed interest in blending
ethanol and biodiesels made from crops with
petrol and diesel to reduce exhaust emissions.
Nearly 45 per cent of petrol in Brazil,
for example, is now ethanol. Almost a third
of all gasoline sold in the United States
is blended with ethanol.
However, Africa remains a Continent of concern,
with emission standards absent or almost
non-existent, says the Year Book. The main
improvement here has been the phase-out
of leaded petrol, which was effectively
achieved at the end of 2005.
Notes to Editors
The GEO Year Book 2006, the third in this
annual series, is available online at http://www.unep.org/geo/yearbook/
and can be purchased from www.earthprint.com.
The Book is the work of more than 140 experts
from across the world.
Details of the 9th Special Session of UNEP’s
Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment
Forum can be found at http://www.unep.org/gc/gcss-ix/
