Geographies in Depth

1 in 8 deaths in Europe are linked to pollution, says EU

City workers cross the River Thames with the City of London financial district seen behind in London, in Britain October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville - LR1ECAR0Q5EH9

Air pollution and heatwaves exacerbated by climate change contribute to around 13% of all deaths in Europe.

Image: REUTERS/Toby Melville

  • According from the European Environment Agency, air pollution and heatwaves exacerbated by climate change contribute to around 13% of all deaths in Europe.
  • The latest data, for 2012, reports that 630,000 deaths in the European Union’s 27 countries plus Britain were attributable to environmental factors.
  • It's vital these emissions are controlled, to heal reduce the number of deaths caused by diabetes, lung disease and cancer

Environmental factors such as air pollution and heatwaves exacerbated by climate change contribute to around 13% of all deaths in Europe, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).

A total of 630,000 deaths in the European Union’s 27 countries plus Britain were attributable to environmental factors in 2012, the latest year for which data are available, EEA said in a report.

“These deaths are preventable and can be significantly reduced through efforts to improve environmental quality,” it said.

Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk in Europe, contributing to more than 400,000 premature deaths each year. Prolonged exposure to pollutants can cause diabetes, lung disease and cancer, and early evidence suggests air pollution may be linked to higher death rates among COVID-19 patients.

Climate change air pollution health environment
The number of environment-related deaths per 100,000 people in Europe, based on the most recent data. Image: European Environment Agency

Europe’s pollution levels plummeted amid lockdowns imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, but the dip is expected to be temporary and most EU countries are on course to miss their targets to cut air pollutants in the next decade.

EEA said the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the connection between the environment and human health, demonstrating the increased risk of passing diseases from animals to humans as a result of environmental degradation and meat production.

“COVID-19 has been yet another wake-up call, making us acutely aware of the relationship between our ecosystems and our health,” EU health chief Stella Kyriakides said in a statement.

The European Commission has proposed EU targets to make agriculture more sustainable, by ringfencing natural habitats and curbing pesticide use, although farming groups have warned the goals could curb crop yields.

EEA said drinking water quality is consistently high across the EU, but it raised the alarm over the release of antibiotics through waste water treatment plants, which can spread antimicrobial resistance. Infections from drug-resistant bacteria cause roughly 25,000 deaths in the EU each year.

Accept our marketing cookies to access this content.

These cookies are currently disabled in your browser.

Accept our marketing cookies to access this content.

These cookies are currently disabled in your browser.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.