Air pollution from burning fossil fuels – primarily coal, oil and gas – contributes to an estimated 4.5-million deaths each year worldwide, as well as to economic losses of about 3.3% of global gross domestic product, new research from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) shows. “There is no longer room to dispute the devastating costs of burning fossil fuels, not just for our rapidly heating planet, but also for our health. The air pollution from fossil fuels is a toxic death-pill as millions of lives across the world are lost prematurely every year, and our risk of stroke, lung cancer and asthma increases due to air pollution,” Greenpeace Africa climate and energy campaigner Bukelwa Nzimande said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
