Pollution

• Sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars should be banned by 2030 to tackle climate change and air pollution, UK Labour has urged.
• The UK economy could be boosted by £1.6 billion a year if it met World Health Organisation guidelines for air pollution.
• Emissions from human activity and ambient concentrations are minimised, and where possible eliminated, as quickly as possible, with ambient pollution below World Health Organisation guidelines by 2030 at the latest.
• Increased demand would see the carbon pollution from plastic double to around 3.5 billion tonnes by 2050, despite targets to cut global emissions to zero to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
• Given likely falls in solar module prices of 5-10% over the coming decade, not only will renewable energy soon be the cheapest form of new power generation in Bangladesh, it will also be quick to build while not adding to air pollution or carbon emissions.
• Beyond 2020, China's gas demand is expected to be driven by the industrial sector and a policy-driven expansion of gas-fired power generation to reduce air pollution.
• With air pollution and climate change being named by the World Health Organisation as one of the top ten threats to global health, an important goal for smart cities is to lower emissions.
• With air pollution and climate change being named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the top ten threats to global health, an important goal for smart cities is to lower emissions.
• Unless appropriate mechanisms to improve ambient air quality are put in place in India, air pollution will continue to pose serious public health concerns in the coming years.
• The US Trump administration is working to roll back vehicle fuel efficiency rule, a move that will increase air pollution and could drive carbon dioxide emissions up by 1,055 million to 1,317 million metric tons.
• Climate change continues to degrade air quality and increase the risk of air pollution harming health.
• In pursuit of the objective of eliminating power plant carbon pollution by 2035 to reach net-zero emissions as rapidly as possible [and no later than by 2050], decarbonization strategies should include carbon capture and storage.
• To reach net-zero emissions as rapidly as possible, US Democrats commit to eliminating carbon 27 pollution from power plants by 2035 through technology-neutral standards for clean energy and 28 energy efficiency.
• The AOC / Kerry task force plan includes a goal of eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035, achieving net-zero emissions for all new buildings by 2030, and making energy saving upgrades to as many as 4 million buildings and 2 million households within five years.
• Without meaningful change, some four billion people worldwide are likely to be without organized waste collection services by 2040, contributing significantly to the projected amount of ocean plastic pollution.
• In Chile's updated NDC, a new aggressive goal to reduce up to 30% of carbon emissions by 2030 was created to address the huge pollution problem associated with cities mainly in the south.
• The Climate Crisis Action Plan would save more than 60,000 American lives every year by 2050 by reducing air pollution, as well as nearly $8 trillion saved through 2050 thanks to health and climate benefits.
• The federal government has made climate change a priority by promising to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, put a price on pollution, plant two billion trees and help Canadians manage the risk of natural disasters such as flooding.
• Plastic pollution is a problem that will not go away soon; it causes hazards to human, wildlife, and environmental health (estimates of damages to the marine environment alone amount to $13 billion each year), and can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
• Even before the pandemic, the UN determined that climate action could trigger $26 trillion in economic benefits by 2030, create 65 million new jobs and avoid 700,000 premature deaths from air pollution.
• Ballard's focus on much-refined fuel-cell technology could reap the company benefits from China's promise to maintain aggressive efforts to reduce air pollution, partly through zero-emission buses and trucks.
• Delivering 90% clean electricity in the US by 2035 avoids an estimated $1.2 trillion in environmental and health costs through 2050, by reducing air pollution and the impact of carbon emissions.

Last updated: 04 October 2020