In the environmental report released on February 15, the United Nations (UN) stated that the issue of environmental pollution caused by waste from countries and businesses is resulting in more deaths than the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two children walking through a garbage-filled area to collect plastic materials in Bangladesh, January 24. (Photo: REUTERS)
The report indicates that pollution from pesticides, plastics, and electronic waste is causing widespread human rights violations and at least 9 million people die prematurely each year, a problem that is largely being overlooked, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, according to aggregated data from worldometers.info, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in nearly 5.9 million deaths.
A woman collecting plastic cups along the trash-filled banks of the Pasig River in Manila, Philippines, June 10, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS)
“Current approaches to managing risks from environmental pollution and hazardous substances are clearly failing, leading to violations of people’s rights to live in a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment,” concluded the report’s author, UN Special Rapporteur David Boyd.
“I believe we have a duty to do better than what is currently happening,” Boyd stated, urging everyone to “act immediately” to ban the use of certain hazardous chemicals.
A mangrove forest polluted with oil in Bakana ii, Nigeria, January 28. (Photo: REUTERS)
The report calls for a ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, synthetic chemicals used in household products that can cause cancer, dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily.
It also suggests finding ways to clean up contaminated sites and, if conditions worsen, considering resettlement options for affected residents, many of whom are poor and indigenous.
Bangladeshi residents crossing a dusty road due to severe air pollution in Tongi, February 3. (Photo: REUTERS)
The head of the UN human rights agency, Michelle Bachelet, has called environmental threats the greatest global challenge as increasing lawsuits over climate change and pollution are urging the agency to take truly effective action.
