Nine million people a year are being killed by pollution.
A new review found that toxic air and contaminated water and soil is an existential threat to both planetary health, as well as human health. The review, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, said pollution jeopardizes the sustainability of modern societies.
It means that one in six of all deaths are because of pollution. The pollution death toll dwarfs that from road traffic deaths, HIV/Aids, malaria and TB combined, or also from drug and alcohol misuse.
It also has a massive economic impact. Researchers calculated that pollution deaths have an economic impact of about $4.6 trillion, which is about $9 million a minute.
The impact overall of pollution has not improved since the first world review was conducted in 2017. Since then, 45 million lives have been lost to pollution.
Prevention has been largely overlooked in the international development agenda with funding only increasing a minimal amount since 2015.
Since 2000, death from toxic air and chemicals has risen by 66 percent. This is due to increased fossil fuel burning, a rising population, and unplanned urbanization.
Lead author of the analysis and professor at Boston College, Philip Landrigan, said that pollution is still the largest existential threat to people and the planet. He said that preventing pollution can also slow down climate change, and therefore this will achieve a double benefit for planetary health.
The report calls for a rapid transition away from all fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.
Another lead author, Richard Fuller from the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution in Switzerland, said that awareness of pollution is key. Action plans have been presented to 11 national governments to show the impact of pollution.
The report calls for increased funding for pollution control, as well as better monitoring structures and a new independent scientific body to assess the problem.
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