Pollution deaths will double by 2050

Air pollution is set to cause increasing numbers of early deaths in the coming decades an environmental report warns.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also says that without changes to government policies, carbon emissions would rise by 50 per cent by 2050, putting the world on course for temperature rises of 3C to 6C by 2100.

The organisation’s environmental outlook to 2050 projected further losses in wildlife and pressure on natural resources, including fresh water, and said while forested areas would increase there would be more plantations with fewer species.

Presenting the report on climate change, environmental risks to health, biodiversity and fresh water, OECD environment director Simon Upton said: “This is a very grim report. It suggests that we are not steering in the right direction on many fronts.”

The report calls for urgent action to address the environmental problems the world faces, and warns Governments cannot tackle each issue in isolation.

The report predicts the number of people dying early from particulate matter (PM) doubling to 3.6 million a year by 2050.

Most deaths would be in China and India, but the number of people dying each year will rise across the world.