Environmental degradation due to factors such as urbanisation, rapid population growth, economic development and transportation, especially in the global south, could have serious consequences on people’s health, warns a UN report.
Environmental degradation due to factors such as urbanisation, rapid population growth, economic development and transportation, especially in the global south, could have serious consequences on people’s health, warns a UN report.
The report cautions that cities and regions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East could see millions of premature deaths by 2050, while pollutants in freshwater systems could lead to anti-microbial resistance becoming a major cause of death globally.
Scientists and experts who compiled the sixth Global Environmental Outlook report released at the UN Environment Assembly (11-15 March) in Nairobi are calling for urgent action to reduce land degradation, air pollution, and biodiversity loss, and improve climate change mitigation, water management and disaster prevention and response.
“These need robust policies that are effective and incorporate solutions such as improved resource management,” says Paul Ekins, co-chair of the report’s panel.
Read more at SciDev.Net
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