Pollution doesn't kill just humans but businesses too

NEW DELHI: Sitting in your air-conditioned office behind glass walls, if you think pollution doesn't affect you as much as the people working out there, you are wrong. Pollution has deep economic impact on the whole gross domestic product (GDP).The onset of winter brings a haze over north India that clouds visibility and causes cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases. Many argue that cracking down on polluting industries will lead to economic losses. But pollution has its economic consequences too. It can bring down productivity and prove expensive by increasing health costs, apart from reducing crop yields and impacting biodiversity and ecosystems.The measures to control pollution such as banning polluting vehicles and factories impact economy no doubt but the cost of pollution too has been quantified by various global studies. A World Bank study released in 2016 revealed that India lost more than 8.5% of its GDP in 2013 due to cost of increased welfare and lost labour due to air pollution. At its current size of $2.6 trillion, the loss equals to about $221 billion.Air pollution has emerged as the deadliest form of pollution and the fourth leading risk factor for premature deaths worldwide. These deaths cost the global economy about $225 billion in lost labour income in 2013. A study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, found that air pollution cost Mumbai and Delhi $10.66 billion (approximately Rs 70,000 crore) in 2015, or about 0.71% of the country's GDP. According to a 2017 study by British medical journal Lancet, pollution can bring down economic output by as much as 2 per cent annually in less-developed countries. The study said India topped the world in pollution-related deaths, accounting for 2.5 million of the total 9 million worldwide in 2015. The biggest increases in such related deaths have been recorded in India and Bangladesh. At 1.81 million, India topped the charts, with China second at 1.58 million. According to a 2016 OECD study, main impact of air pollution in India is on productivity and agricultural production (see graph below). 66430182 Pollution is responsible for 7% of annual healthcare spending in middle-income countries that are heavily polluted and rapidly developing. The report states that the economic cost would rise as the association between pollution and diseases becomes clearer. If the government takes tough measures against pollution, it will actually increase production and lead to economic benefits.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2EP5BXH
via IFTTT