According to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) air pollution is costing trillions of dollars and increasingly threatening lives in Australia.
The new OECD report says air pollution is costing advanced economies plus China and India an estimated US$3.5 trillion a year in premature deaths and ill health and the costs will rise without government action to limit vehicle emissions.
The report also indicates that number of deaths related to air pollution in Australia has increased significantly, when most of the world’s major economies have seen their death rates decline.
In OECD countries, around half the cost of deaths from air pollution is from road transport, with diesel vehicles producing the most harmful emissions.
Traffic exhaust is a growing threat in fast-expanding cities in China and India, as the steady increase in the number of cars and trucks on the road undermines efforts to curb vehicle emissions.
The report shows that between 2005 and 2010, the number of deaths from air pollution in Australia jumped from 882 to 1483, representing a 68 per cent rise.
The pattern is similar for the number of ”years of life lost” due to air pollution.
Of the 34 countries in the OECD, 20 saw their pollution-related deaths decline in that five-year period. Australia was in the minority of 14 countries that saw their death rates increase.
“The price we pay to drive doesn’t reflect the impact of driving on the environment and on people’s health.
“Tackling air pollution requires collective action,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, presenting the report at the International Transport Forum’s 2014 Summit in Leipzig, Germany
The report Cost of Air Pollution: Health Impacts of Road Transport calculates the cost to society across the OECD’s 34 members at about US$1.7 trillion, based on the value people attach to not having their lives cut short by cancer, heart disease or respiratory problems.
It puts the cost at nearly US$1.4 trillion in China and nearly US$0.5 trillion in India.
More than 3.5 million people die each year from outdoor air pollution. From 2005 to 2010, the death rate rose by 4 percent worldwide, by five per cent in China and by 12 per cent in India.
The report underlines the fact that there is no public policy case for applying preferential tax treatment to diesel.
It also supports taking action to reduce road transport pollution which could include tightening emission standards, expanding urban bicycle-sharing and electric car programmes and extending road charge schemes to reduce congestion.
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There is no environmental justification for taxing diesel less than petrol.
“Air pollution is destroying our health and the planet.
“Phasing out tax incentives on diesel would be a step towards reducing the costs to both and in fighting climate change,” said Mr Gurría.
Read the full remarks by Mr Gurria.