Toxic air killed over 17 lakh Indians in 2022, says a new Lancet report

New Delhi: Toxic air killed an estimated 17 lakh plus Indians in 2022, a new global analysis has estimated, with an alert that the casualty figure is 38% higher than what was estimated in 2010.

From an economic perspective, the monetised value of premature mortality due to outdoor air pollution in the same year amounted to over $ 339 billion, which is equivalent to 9.5% of India’s GDP, it says.

The alarming statistics are part of this year’s Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report that reveals how continued over reliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change is being paid in people’s lives, health, and livelihoods worldwide.

There were over 1,718,000 estimated deaths in India that are attributable to exposure to PM-2.5 - tiny dust and soot particles that penetrate everyone’s lungs and travel in the bloodstream impacting health.

Of this, fossil fuels (coal and liquid gas) contributed to 752,000 (44%) deaths in 2022, while coal accounted for 394,000 deaths, primarily from its use in power plants.

Household air pollution was associated with 113 deaths per 100,000 individuals. The mortality rate from such pollution is more in rural (125) than urban (99) areas, suggesting higher use of polluting fuels like wood, coal and dung in the countryside.

According to the report, fossil fuels continue to account for nearly all of road transport energy in India (96%). As of 2022, coal made up nearly half of the total energy supply (46%) and three-fourths of total electricity in India, while renewable options made up 2% and 10% respectively.

Prepared by a team of 128 experts from 71 institutions, the meta-analysis red-flags 2.5 million deaths worldwide every year that are attributable to the air pollution coming from continued use of fossil fuels.

This is straining national budgets – as fossil fuel prices soared, governments collectively spent $ 956 billion on net fossil fuel subsidies in 2023. Oil and gas giants, on the other hand, kept expanding their production plans – to a scale three times greater than a liveable planet can support.

Besides air pollution, the experts also looked at how other indicators of climate change such as heatwave, sea level rise, vulnerability to infectious diseases and loss of tree cover were impacting people’s health.

For instance, heat exposure resulted in a loss of 247 billion labour hours in India every year. This is 124% more than what was experienced between 1990-1999. The agricultural sector accounted for 66% and the construction sector accounted for 20% of the losses in 2024.

Released on Wednesday, the report comes days ahead of the two week long UN climate change summit (COP30) that will kick start in Brazil on November 10.