Towards a green economy % 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0


Consumption by mass


Global


warming potential


Land use competition


Human toxicity


Animal products (animal protein and fish) Biomass from forestry (wood, paper and board) Crude oil (heating and electricity in housing) Natural gas (heating and electricity in housing) Coal (heating and electricity in housing) Plastic


Crops Iron and steel


Minerals (glass, salt, concrete, ceramics, clay, sand and stone) Other metals (zinc, lead, nickel, lead, copper, aluminium)


Figure 6: Relative contribution of material groups


to environmental problems (EU27 + Turkey) Source: UNEP (2010b)


In the USA, damage from air pollution, mostly (95 per cent) in the form of health costs, is estimated to amount to between 0.7 per cent and 2.8 per cent of GDP. This estimate depends on assumptions about the value of life, as a function of age, and the relationship between exposure and mortality (Mendelsohn and Muller 2007). The USA data, taken from 10,000 locations, are consistent with European data. In Europe, the greatest contributors to emissions of particulate matter in 2000 were from the energy and electric power sectors (30 per cent), road- transport (22 per cent), manufacturing (17 per cent) and agriculture (12 per cent) (Krzyzanowski et al. 2005).


The cost estimates presented in Table 3 are based on human health effects, including premature mortality, chronic illness, such as bronchitis and asthma, and several acute illnesses. Muller and Mendelsohn (2007) also measure the damages from reduced crop and timber


256


Environmentally weighted material


consumption


yields, impaired visibility, deterioration of man-made materials, and diminished recreation services, although the health-related damages constitute 95 per cent of the total (not counting GHGs). Another 2009 assessment, by the U.S. National Research Council (2009), found that burning fossil fuels costs the USA about US$ 120 billion a year in health costs, mostly because of thousands of premature deaths from air pollution.


The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International


Institute for Applied Systems Analysis


(IIASA) have estimated the cost of control policies for air pollution caused by the combustion of fossil fuels to be US$ 190 billion in 2005, some of it paid and some unpaid. This cost is projected to increase in a BAU scenario by a factor of three by 2030, owing to higher activity levels and increasingly stringent controls (IEA, IIASA 2009). However, the avoided costs to health and the environment are much greater, resulting in a highly favourable balance of benefits and costs. In addition, the costs of end-of-pipe pollution controls can be reduced by cleaner production approaches in management, cleaner raw material selection and cleaner technologies that reduce emissions and integrate by-products into a production value chain.


Air pollution and climate change are linked in several ways, and they could be beneficially addressed by integrated policy (Raes 2006). The analysis, using (IIASA) GAINS (Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies) model, reveals that significant co- benefits on local air quality can be expected from reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) emissions and that climate change mitigation measures would cut SO2, NOx and particulate matter emissions at no extra cost and reduce local negative health impacts from fine particulate matter accordingly (IIASA 2009).


2.3 Hazardous substances and waste Other


significant environmental externalities


Country China


European Union Ukraine Russia USA


Year 2008 2005 2006 2002 2002


GDP (per cent) 1.16-3.8 2 4


2-5 0.7-2.8


Table 3: Cost of air pollution from sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic


compounds as a percentage of GDP Source: Adapted from World Bank (2008); Markandya and Tamborra (2005); Strukova et al. (2006); Bobylev et al. (2002); Mendelsohn and Muller (2007).


at


a global scale include impacts associated with hazardous


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