Greenpeace says 1.6 million died due to pollution in India, China in 2015

Around 1.6 million people died in India and China in 2015 due to air pollution caused by fossil fuel, particularly coal, according to a report released on Friday.

“Air pollution due to continued use of fossil fuels, (coal in particular) in both the countries has caused an additional 1.6 million deaths than the projected figure based on the GDP growth rate for the year 2015,” the report by Greenpeace said.

Read | No air to breathe: India beat China in air pollution deaths last year

It said out of the 10 countries with the highest air pollution death rates, half were middle-income countries including India.

“Air pollution generally reduces as a country’s GDP increases. But China and India have particularly bad air pollution despite recent economic growth.

“Although air pollution death rates have fallen in China and India since 1990, they are still worse than in most similar countries. In India, rates have not improved since 2010. Continued use of coal is a major reason for the high air pollution death rates in both countries,” the report said. Read more…