Global rights group Amnesty International has called for cross-border cooperation to reduce the widening impact of air pollution in South Asia. “We reiterate our calls to the affected South Asian countries to urgently create and implement cross-border pollution action plan,” Amnesty International’s Climate Adviser Ann Harrison said in a press statement on March 20.
There has been “little conce-rted action by both the affected countries as well as the high-income fossil fuel producers that are planning to expand, not reduce production,” Harrison added. She pointed out that the issue of air pollution “is largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels.” Earlier, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India occupied the top three spots for having the worst air quality among 134 nations surveyed in the 2023 World Air Quality Report releas-ed by IQ Air.
Bangladesh occupied the top spot with an average PM2.5 con-centration of 79.9 ìg/m³ (micro-gram per cubic meter) roughly 32 times higher than the World Health Organization limit of 2.5 ìg/m³. Pakistan occupied the second spot with an average PM2.5 concentration of 73.7ìg/m³ followed by India at the third spot with 54.4ìg/m³. The IQ Air report assesses the PM2.5 concentration – fine particulate aerosol particles measuring up to 2.5 microns in diameter – which is the primary air quality indicator for the World Air Quality Report.
PM2.5 is one of six common pollutants monitored and regulat-ed by environmental agencies worldwide due to its significant impacts on human health and the environment. “The climate ‘red alert’ in addition to prolonged exposure to toxic air quality in many parts of the South Asian region illustrates the risk of harms to life and health of more than a billion people from accelerating climate chaos,” Harrison warned.
Fossil fuels comprise about 80 percent of the world’s energy use, according to a 2023 report publi-shed by Boston University’s Insti-tute for Global Sustainability.