Africa is home to many of the world’s fastest growing urban centres, and the continent’s rapidly expanding cities are facing an air pollution crisis, according to the new Clean Air Fund. report It was released on Thursday.
Home to the world’s youngest population, Africa is expected to nearly double its population by mid-century, reaching 3.9 billion by 2100.
According to the report, more than 65% of Africa’s population will live in urban areas by 2060, and five of the world’s 10 largest cities could be on the continent by the end of this century. The 600-mile coastline alone, which stretches from Nigeria’s capital Lagos to Ivory Coast’s Abidjan, is expected to be home to around 500 million people by 2100.
Africa’s rapid urbanization is driving fast-growing economies, but it also comes with a big hidden cost: air pollution.
Kevin Ulama, Chief Economist at the African Development Bank, said: “The challenges posed by rapid urbanization across the continent are enormous, including sharp increases in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. “This would have dire consequences for the health of the economy.” he explained in a statement accompanying the release of the report.
The study focuses on six major, rapidly expanding African cities: Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, and Yaounde. The report says air pollution will cause more than 56,400 premature deaths across six cities in 2022, costing at least $2 billion. In 2019, toxic air killed an estimated 1.1 million people across Africa, more than tobacco, alcohol, car accidents and unsafe water combined.
Across the six cities surveyed, road traffic was identified as the largest contributor to PM2.5 air pollution concentrations, with Lagos and Accra accounting for 30% and 40% of PM2.5 concentrations, respectively.
○Causes include industrial activities, power plants, biomass fuels, and improper management of waste. As cities grow and populations increase, emissions from these sources will skyrocket. More people require more cars, energy and fuel, creating more waste and leading to a sharp rise in air pollution.
If current trends continue, the economic costs of air pollution in Africa’s major cities could soar more than eightfold by 2040, the report says. The price will also be paid in more than 1 million premature deaths by 2040, 109,000 of which could be saved by implementing air pollution control policies.
“On the current trajectory, following a ‘business as usual’ approach means that air pollution in Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi and Yaounde will cost an estimated $138 billion in premature deaths and worker absenteeism over the next 20 years. It means there will be a loss.” Urama.
Opportunity to change course
Despite the grim outlook, the report offers a roadmap to avoid the potentially devastating consequences of air pollution. Implementing policies that promote green growth can yield substantial economic benefits, including billions of dollars in savings, fewer deaths, improved public health, lower carbon emissions, and reduced poverty. It emphasizes gender.
The report calls on African governments to review high-emitting sectors at the national level, including energy, transport, industry, electricity production, agriculture and waste management.
By identifying ways to reduce air pollution in these areas, governments can address climate change and create opportunities for green economic growth at the same time. The report highlights the need to incorporate air quality targets into national and local legislation and ensure long-term commitment across political cycles.
Mayors and local government leaders are being challenged to deploy low-cost, low-maintenance air quality monitoring equipment to collect comprehensive data for evidence-based decision-making. These devices allow cities to accurately identify pollution hotspots, track trends, and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation strategies.
As more governments and local governments deploy air monitoring technology, data sharing across borders and within countries will also increase, allowing local and national authorities to implement evidence-based policies on public health issues related to air quality. will be able to formulate.
Clean air measures across Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi and Yaounde, including upgrading public transport and installing cleaner cookstoves, could cost more than $19.2 billion across the six cities by 2040. There is a possibility that you can save.
Accra, which will host the first World Health Organization (WHO) Air Pollution Summit in 2024, predicts that the economic impact of air pollution, including absenteeism and premature deaths, is expected to quadruple between 2019 and 2040. There is. However, the city may be unlocked. Implementing measures to reduce air pollution will cost him more than $25 million in 2040 alone.
While the report’s financial projections are important, it acknowledges that the true benefits could be even greater when considering the positive spillover effects on health care, agriculture, productivity and the environment.
“Although this study expresses the expected benefits from air pollution control in monetary terms, these monetary benefits should not be understood to mean specific funding or cost savings.” the report points out. “Co-benefits from air quality improvement activities deliver improved cost-effectiveness, circulate into local economies and strengthen health systems, businesses and government finances.”
The report also found that there is an alarming lack of international and multilateral development funding to combat air pollution in Africa, with only 5% of total aid directed towards reducing air pollution on the continent. I’m emphasizing it.
In Lagos, a city with approximately 16 million people, tFrom 2015 to 2020, only $250,000 in government development funding was directed towards air pollution. Air pollution affected 70,000 people in the city in 2019 alone.
From 2015 to 2021, donor governments have surprisingly given more attention to prolonged fossil fuel use than to tackling air pollution in Africa, even though the continent faces faster-than-global temperature rises than the global average. provided 36 times more aid.
The report calls on international and multilateral development banks to step up technical assistance to help countries access green funds, and makes sure that such data is important in obtaining other climate finance. Recognizing the role played, a dedicated fund to fund air quality data monitoring capacity is recommended.
“It is well understood that tackling poverty, delivering clean water to people around the world and investing in education are all important to Africa’s development,” Ulama said. “Ensuring people can breathe clean air is also an important but often ignored piece of this puzzle.”
Image credits: WHO/Blink Media, Nana Kofi Akua.
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