Clean air activists condemn ‘silent pandemic’ of pollution in African cities | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
By Zeenat Hansrod
Environmental activists have condemned air pollution on the African continent as a silent pandemic that will cost billions of dollars and claim millions of lives.
In their study of Accra, Lagos, Johannesburg and Cairo, the Clean Air Fund said countries could not keep turning a blind eye to the issue.
“Air pollution is estimated to cost a total of 115,7 billion dollars from 2023 to 2040 across Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg and Lagos under a business-as-usual scenario,” said the report.
Like climate change, air pollution is mostly due to burning fossil fuels. The report points out that air pollution is massively overlooked by policy makers and funders.
It stresses that without urgent action on clean air, the financial cost of air pollution in Africa’s cities is predicted to increase by more than 600 per cent by 2040. Studies show that Africa’s cities are likely to house 65 per cent of its population by 2060
Why winning the climate fight in Africa is a win for the world
In 2019, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, air pollution caused 1.1 million deaths across Africa. HIV AIDS-related deaths in the same year amounted to more than 440,000 on the continent.
Urban exodus
In a combined context of climate change and economic depression, Africa’s rural population continues to migrate further towards its cities which are ill-equipped to sustain such a fast expansion.
The African Development Bank wrote that urbanisation in Africa resulted in proliferation of slums, poverty and rising inequality.
However, policy makers and funders may offset the trend and drastically reduce the financial costs of air pollution by upgrading public transport, providing cleaner cooking stoves, greener industrial technology and energy.
They could also make land clearance and waste management more environmentally-friendly.
RFI
