India was 3rd most polluted country in 2023: World Air Quality Report

GENEVA, Mar 19: India was the third most polluted country in 2023 after Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to the World Air Quality Report based on data from the Swiss firm IQAir. India’s annual PM 2.5 was 54.4µg/m3 compared to Pakistan’s 73.7µg/m3 and Bangladesh’s 79.9µg/m3.

India’s annual PM 2.5 average was 53.3µg/m3 in 2022 when it was the eighth most polluted country. It was 58.1µg/m3 in 2021. The report, which was released on Tuesday and is based on data from over 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,812 locations in 134 countries, territories, and regions, said 42 of the world’s most polluted 50 cities are in India.

New Delhi (92.7µg/m3) was the most polluted capital city globally. Begusarai (118.9µg/m3) was the most polluted in India followed by Guwahati (105.4µg/m3).

The Union Territory of Delhi had an average PM 2.5 concentration of 102.1µg/m3, making it the third most polluted worldwide. New Delhi (92.7µg/m3) was the sixth most polluted.

Mullanpur (100.4µg/m3) in Punjab and Pakistan’s Lahore (99.5µg/m3) were the fourth and fifth most polluted places.

Greater Noida (88.6µg/m3) was the most polluted, ranking 11th, across the National Capita Region after Delhi. Gurugram (84µg/m3) was next at 17th.

The report said seven of the 134 countries—Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, and New Zealand—met the World Health Organization annual PM 2.5 average of 5µg/m3 or less.

Greenpeace International senior air quality scientist Aidan Farrow said the report illustrates the international nature and inequitable consequences of the enduring air pollution crisis. “Local, national, and international effort is urgently needed to monitor air quality in under-resourced places, manage the causes of transboundary haze, and cut our reliance on combustion as an energy source,” he said.

“In 2023, air pollution remained a global health catastrophe. IQAir’s global data set provides an important reminder of the resulting injustices and the need to implement the many solutions that exist to this problem.”

Countries across Europe must prepare for 'catastrophic' climate change risks, says European Environment Agency

COPENHAGEN, Mar 11: Countries across Europe should prepare for "catastrophic" risks, ranging from floods to deadly heatwaves, as worsening climate change hits every part of their economies and societies this century, the EU Environment Agency said on Monday.

Policymakers need to draw up new plans to address the challenges, the Copenhagen-based body said in its first Europe-wide analysis of climate-related risks.

Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, heating up at twice the global rate, the EEA said. Even if countries manage to slow warming, global temperatures are already more than 1C higher than in pre-industrial times.

The EEA said the damage will depend, in part, on whether policymakers act now to prepare societies - for example, by improving insurance coverage, redesigning infrastructure and introducing laws to protect outdoor workers from deadly heat.

Without more urgent action, the EEA said most of the 36 climate risks facing Europe could hit "critical or catastrophic levels" this century. They include risks to health, crop production and infrastructure.

In a pessimistic scenario, by the end of the century, the EEA said: "Hundreds of thousands of people would die from heatwaves, and economic losses from coastal floods alone could exceed 1 trillion euros per year."

That would far exceed the 650 billion euros lost to weather and climate-related extremes across the bloc from 1980 to 2022.

Kate Levick, associate director at climate think-tank E3G, urged governments to respond to the EEA's findings.

"There's a particular role for finance ministers to essentially look at what happens to balance sheets, in terms of assets and liabilities at national level, as a result of climate risk," Levick said.

The European Commission will publish its response to the report on Tuesday.