Health damage related to air pollution cost 28 world's biggest cities from 0.4 to 6 percent of GDP in the first half of 2020, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2020) Health damage related to air pollution cost 28 world's biggest cities from 0.4 to 6 percent of GDP in the first half of 2020, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report on Thursday.
"Health damage from air pollution cost between 0.4% and 6% of annual GDP in the world's leading cities on the first half of 2020, due to increased risks of chronic illnesses, asthma, work absences, preterm births and many other health impacts. CREA has worked with AirVisual and Greenpeace to release an online tool that tracks the health impacts and economic costs of air pollution in the world's cities in real time," the report said.
According to the CREA, out of the 28 metropolises, New Delhi has the highest economic cost of air pollution, which stood at 5.8 percent of the city's annual GDP, which is about $3.5 billion, this year.
"The costs include work absences due to sick leave, number of people suffering from asthma as well as asthma-related trips to the hospital, years of life lost and years lived with the disability, and preterm births. All amounting to a total cost of $3.5 billion for the past six months," the report stated.
The CREA said that cities with the highest pollution levels had the highest cost in terms of the percentage of the GDP. Among such cities are New Delhi, Beijing, Mumbai, Shanghai, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Moscow, Hong Kong and Seoul.
