Pollution

• [New] Greece has recently embraced large-scale renewable energy as part of plans to become carbon neutral by 2050, after decades of reliance on heavily polluting coal-fired plants.
• [New] Labor will implement a climate change and energy policy to reduce carbon pollution in line with the Paris Accord goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and taking efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
• [New] Among Hispanic adults, prevalence for uncontrolled hypertension is greater compared with other races and ethnicities in the US, making it all the more important to determine how air pollution will affect long-term health risks for Hispanic children.
• [New] Converting the school bus fleet will reduce carbon emissions by 25,000 tons per year while cutting diesel pollution harmful to human health, contributing to both Maryland and Montgomery County goals.
• [New] Bangladesh plans to scrap nine new coal projects as the cost of imported coal rises and overseas investors slash finance for polluting fossil fuels.
• [New] Some 16 coal-fired power plants will be responsible for the high levels of air pollution that will put the Bangladeshi population at an elevated risk from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• [New] The adverse impacts of the existing and under-construction coal-fired power could end up causing the deaths of around 71,000 people throughout their lifespan in the next 30 years, mainly due to air pollution, toxic deposition and other environmental hazards.
• [New] By 2025, China will see a marked rise in the scale of green industries, a continued drop in major pollutants, and a slashed carbon emission intensity.
• [New] Climate change is another global concern because of the health risks associated with extreme heat and water events, increased air pollution, food and water insecurity, and vector - and water-borne diseases.
• The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, released a report last year finding that switching to U.S.-produced gas could reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants by about 50% in China, Germany and India.
• Reducing air pollution in China will make the already unavoidable impacts of climate change more apparent there in the short term.
• Around one quarter of the global burden of disease stems from environment-related risks, including climate change, air and water pollution, and exposure to toxic chemicals.
• 15% of Covid deaths worldwide, and up to 27% of Covid deaths in East Asia, could be attributed to long-term exposure to air pollution.
• President Joe Biden wants to bring the United States to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to fight climate change through a shift to clean-energy technologies, while reducing pollution in low-income and minority neighborhoods near industrial facilities.
• With governments globally committed to reducing carbon emissions, pivoting economies towards greener technology and cutting pollution, the need for new skills in a new and expanding green industrial sector will be crucial in the future.
• The United States will sacrifice Taiwan's equities to make progress on climate with Beijing.
• Los Angeles has billed its climate plan as a Green New Deal, an approach that's meant to tie decarbonization to economic justice, by creating jobs for people in communities that are harmed by pollution and threatened by climate change.
• By 2050, an estimated 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste will be sitting in landfills or polluting the natural environment.
• Air pollution is now a top five global risk factor for an early death.
• The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a research paper that finds trade in plastics is immense, and offers an opportunity to reduce plastic pollution and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through more effective trade policy.
• Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to UK public health and is linked to as many as 64,000 early deaths a year.
• The United States Federal Reserve's corporate bond purchase programme has allocated significant capital to companies with high risk of contributing to climate change, deforestation and plastic pollution.
• The implementation of the HPS would offer further reductions in air pollution concentrations and show that countries with the highest projected concentrations under the CPS have the greatest reduction potential under the HPS.

Last updated: 07 March 2021