While most countries acknowledge that they contribute to global levels of PM2.5 – fine particulate matter – there is little agreement on how much and thus the extent of their financial responsibility. In particular, far harder to measure than the direct production of PM2.5 by factories and cars is the amount caused by consumption.
Their very small size is what makes PM2.5 so dangerous. Easily inhalable, they accumulate inside the lungs, where they severely increase the risk of cancer and other deadly diseases. Yet it is the poor that are especially vulnerable to PM2.5 and die prematurely.
To emphasise the impact that PM2.5 levels from consumption alone have on human health, the study – from the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Japan – concluded that the lifetime consumption of just 28 people in G20 nations will cause the premature death of one person worldwide.
“Most deaths are in developing countries and without international coordination...