Earth Charter Chicago

Save Millions of Lives: Cleaner Air and Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Efforts time climate change by reducing greenhouse gases could benefit from additional storage of millions of people as a direct result of clean air, according to researchers, for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Researchers estimate that 100 million premature deaths due to respiratory diseases linked to air pollution could prevent the reduction of greenhouse gases 50% by 2050, a goal, the goal is to win serious support in many international discussions on Global Warming.

Conversely, the researchers warn that if governments continue their current energy policies and not for the necessary changes, the number of deaths from air pollution complicated by other factors such as population growth, urbanization increasing and aging population, the increase is 30% in 2050 the rich countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and double in the poor regions, non-OECD countries .

The economic benefits of air quality and more people of working age, alive-profit, higher than 5% of GDP by 2050 in countries like India and China, and could contribute to the cost of climate policy and the additional incentives for developing countries to participate more fully in the climate negotiations, as planned, will be held in Copenhagen in December.

“The benefits of local air pollution climate policy an additional incentive for countries to participate in a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gases,” said Jean Bollen, one of the authors of the study, in a interview with the Guardian.