Unbridled economic growth in many leading economies will have disastrous economic and social consequences and lead to irreversible environmental destruction, a group of global experts warns today.
*The group makes three key recommendations to business leaders: * Explore innovative ways to invest in transitions to low-carbon and health-friendly economies, working with institutions such as the World Bank and regional development banks.
Companies all over the world now have a huge opportunity to work on solutions that can be transformative for economies and profitable in the long-term for investors.
It is businesses such as these that will succeed in securing a sustainable future – for our planet and themselves.” *Death, disease and destruction: the consequences of environmental negligence * In particular, the report notes, global environmental threats are posing an increasingly acute danger to human health – especially in major emerging markets such as China and India, but also in the world at large: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 23% of deaths worldwide are due to modifiable environmental factors – most prominently air pollution, which is the single greatest cause of disease and death in poorer countries and emerging markets.
Air pollution alone accounts for around seven million deaths worldwide: outdoor air pollution is responsible for some three million deaths a year and a further four million deaths occur as a result of household air pollution.
The world-renowned economist, Jeffrey D Sachs, Professor at Columbia University and Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, warns: “A quarter of all deaths worldwide are currently directly or indirectly attributed to environmental ill health.
Increasing air and water pollution, the spread of new diseases, and drug-resistant infections are already crippling our health and social systems.
“The good news is if appropriate action is taken to reduce environmental risks, up to 30% of cardiovascular diseases and lower respiratory infections, 50% of diarrhoeal diseases and 20% of cancers can be prevented.” At a troubling time in international efforts to manage the challenges of environmental change, the report urges global leaders, including in China, India and Europe, as well as local authorities and businesses across the world, to join together to implement and build on the Paris Agreement, an important milestone not only in climate change but potentially also in the history of public health.
*What needs to be done – summary of recommendations * The EMS report lays out a number of recommendations for future action, many of which have catalytic global, national and local environmental, health and economic benefits.
Environmental Health in Emerging Markets is authored by the EMS’s executive director, Ian Scott, Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, and a former director of the World Bank.