View in Browser

Sign up for Reuters newsletters

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

“Die without me, never thank me. Walk right through me, never feel me. Always watching, never speaking. Always lurking, never seen. What am I?” Why, it’s air! Today’s focus is all about air, or the lack of clean air, as air pollution has been found to cut life expectancies and have adverse effects on people’s health, with Asia and Africa suffering the most.

Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia, one of the world’s most polluted regions, according to a recently published report which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health.

The region, which includes the world’s most polluted countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, accounts for more than half of the total life years lost globally to pollution, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) said in its latest Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).

A bird flies next to the smog-covered Akshardham temple in New Delhi, India, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Adnan Abid

Rapid industrialization and population growth have contributed to declining air quality in South Asia, where particulate pollution levels are currently more than 50% higher than at the start of the century and now overshadow dangers posed by other health threats.

People in Bangladesh, the world’s most polluted country, stand to lose 6.8 years of life on average per person, compared to 3.6 months in the United States, according to the study, which uses satellite data to calculate the impact of an increase in airborne fine particles on life expectancy.

India is responsible for about 59% of the world’s increase in pollution since 2013, the report said, as hazardous air threatens to shorten lives further in some of the country’s more polluted regions. In densely populated New Delhi, the world’s most polluted mega-city, the average life span is down by more than 10 years.

The study also showed that despite improvements in China air pollution across the globe continues to pose the greatest external risk to human health, with countries in Asia and Africa suffering most of the impact.

Around three quarters of the adverse health effects of air pollution is concentrated in just six countries – Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, the University of Chicago’s EPIC said in its AQLI report.

If hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 were brought down to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), average life expectancy would rise by 2.3 years worldwide, saving a combined 17.8 billion life years, the report estimated.

While average world pollution levels have fallen slightly over the past decade, almost all of the improvement has been driven by China, where a 10-year “war on pollution” has seen PM2.5 fall by more than 40% since 2013.

Virtually all of Southeast Asia is also now considered to have “unsafe levels of pollution”, with average life expectancy cut by 2-3 years.

Meanwhile, a London scheme to cut traffic emissions by imposing a daily charge on the most polluting vehicles expanded to the whole of the British capital. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was introduced in 2019 in a small part of central London and was further expanded in 2021. 

London Mayor Sadiq Khan says the expansion will reduce deaths from illnesses linked to air pollution and help to curb climate change.

The mayor told the BBC that introducing the expanded zone was difficult but necessary. He has previously said that those living in the poorest areas are exposed to the highest levels of pollution.

View of a burned forest following a wildfire, near the village of Avantas in the region of Evros, Greece, August 28, 2023. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

Gonzalo Galindo, Head of Cemex Ventures, shares his thoughts on industrial sources of pollution and European green construction solutions:

“Cement products are essential for construction but represent the third largest industrial source of pollution. Yet the vast majority of construction projects rely on this material. 

“With Europe embarking on a number of megaprojects and the construction industry expected to grow steadily to meet rising population and transportation demands, greener solutions are urgently needed. 

“European startups can play a significant role in this green construction transition. 

“For example, WtEnergy Advanced Solutions offers a novel waste-to-fuel technology that reduces the environmental impact of cement production by converting waste streams into a clean energy alternative. The technology is under deployment at a top-producing cement plant in Alicante, Spain and has the potential to save 400,000 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions.

“Synhelion is another startup that uses solar heat to create so-called solar fuels that can be used in lieu of heavy CO2 emitting fossil fuels in order to produce high-quality cementitious materials. With these unique startup solutions, the environmental impact of cement, which is a key ingredient in the world’s most widely manufactured material—concrete, can be significantly reduced. 

“While trillions have been committed to climate solutions, the current disruption to Europe’s climate underscores the urgency of this situation. 

“With technologies that already exist today, we can start to decarbonize crucial construction processes, however, support is needed to scale the technology from startups like these.”

Tropical Storm Idalia swirled into a hurricane on Tuesday after skirting past Cuba as it closed in on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where officials ordered evacuations and urged residents to brace for a possible major Category 3 tempest making landfall on Wednesday.

Idalia was expected to attain major-hurricane status – with sustained winds topping at least 111 miles per hour (179 kph) – on Wednesday morning before slamming ashore later in the day, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Mana Maya Shrestha, works at a farm run by seven women entrepreneurs from Bhardev village on the outskirts of Lalitpur, Nepal August 11, 2023. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

From a fly farm in Nepal to a wetland in Lebanon, today’s spotlight showcases nature-based innovations from South Asia and the Middle East.

In a village a little over an hour’s drive from Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, six women wearing yellow rubber gloves and surgical masks work in a shed, gently squeezing the wet larvae of the black soldier fly into small plastic containers.

Another woman slices pears and wilted vegetables to feed the insects, known more commonly as BSF, that are held in two plastic cages equipped with thermal panels for artificial light and heat to maintain the required temperature inside the tin-roofed 800-square-foot shed.

The protein-rich insect eggs are dried and processed into feed for fish, chicken and pigs, and will sell at 70 Nepali rupees (about $0.55 cents) a kilo. Opened in March with a $110,000 grant provided by the Women’s Bank, Finland, through the charity Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal, the fly farm is billed as the first of its kind in the Himalayan nation.

It is owned and operated by the women, all members of a “Sisters Group” in Bhardev, a small village with a population of about 2,500 people, 30 km (19 miles) south of the capital.

A view shows Ammiq wetlands in Bekaa valley, Lebanon August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah

The Ammiq wetlands in Lebanon are considered to be among the largest in the country. Spread out over 27 million square feet, they are home to roaming buffalo and more than 250 species of birds.

“We are almost in September and the area is still green, water still exists in a good amount. And where you can’t find water, the land is still wet and green,” said Abdallah Hanna, an agricultural engineer who oversees the Ammiq Wetlands.

“The idea was to build a big dam in order to keep the water for the longest period of time during summer,” said Hanna, adding that the internal water springs enrich the marshland and the dams they built on the land help preserve it. The project took about two years to complete.

Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and hundreds of different types of plants and trees call the wetlands home.

“Both indoor and outdoor air pollution all appear in the top 10 leading causes of death globally. Combined, these have resulted in over 13.4 million deaths across the world in 2019 alone.”

Indoor Air Quality Index report 2023, UK-based utilities contractor,

Utility Bidder

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content.

Sustainable Switch is sent three times a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Stay up to date on the key companies, data and decisions in the world of ESG finance with our new newsletter, Reuters Sustainable Finance. Sign up here to get the weekly roundup.

Want to stop receiving this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.
To manage which newsletters you’re signed up for, click here.

Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement