Georgia (53rd) has seen a major improvement in fixed broadband subscriptions over the past decade, with the number increasing by more than six times. As a result, since 2011, the percentage of the population using the internet has increased from 20% to almost 70%.
Over
the past decade, we have seen little improvement in recorded data on the
Natural Environment, at a time when effective stewardship of the planet is
desperately needed. The increased levels of preservation efforts over the last
decade indicate a strengthening global policy engagement in stewarding the
environment. Although the rate of emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx has decreased
in North America and in both Western and Eastern Europe, the continued rise in
other regions has meant that over the past decade, global emissions have been
on the rise.
Over the past decade, we have seen little improvement in recorded data on the Natural Environment, at a time when effective stewardship of the planet is desperately needed. The increased levels of preservation efforts over the last decade indicate a strengthening global policy engagement in stewarding the environment. Although the rate of emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx has decreased in North America and in both Western and Eastern Europe, the continued rise in other regions has meant that over the past decade, global emissions have been on the rise.
The impact of increased emissions on the natural
environment continues to garner international public and political interest.
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for developing understanding of
complex systems, including the physical modelling of Earth’s climate. This
November, world leaders met in Glasgow at COP26 to formalise efforts to keep
global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Addressing damaging
consequences of emissions cannot be overlooked, if we are to steward the
natural environment as a legacy for present and future generations. But it must
be undertaken in a way that provides a pathway to prosperity for those nations
that have not yet passed through their industrialisation phase.
Whilst
the impact of emissions represents a longer-term challenge, it is not the only
issue of concern. Today, an estimated 91% of the global population is exposed
to unhealthy levels of air pollution, resulting in an estimated seven million
premature deaths around the world each year. As many as nine out of ten people
breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits, contributing to a rise in
instances of stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung
cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
The
impact of air pollution disproportionately impacts low and middle-income
nations. For example, death rates in the most impacted countries in sub-Saharan
Africa are estimated to be more than 100 times that seen in Western Europe and
North America. This disparity is largely the result of the ongoing reliance of
developing nations upon fossil fuels to drive their rapid industrialization,
together with the trend towards ever-greater levels of urbanization. Whilst
high rates of air pollution are believed to reduce life expectancy by an
average of two years across the world, people living in the most highly
polluted emerging economies such as India have seen their life expectancy
reduce by as much as six years, making air pollution a bigger killer than
smoking.
Research
also suggests that air pollution has a disproportionately damaging impact upon
children, with instances of childhood asthma now at an all-time high. Asthma is
among the most prevalent diseases affecting children, with a study in the
British Medical Journal indicating that children exposed to levels higher than
2.5 parts per million are more likely to develop asthma.
Since
2011, 81 countries have seen a deterioration in their Exposure to Air Pollution,
with Singapore deteriorating the most, with the share of its population whose
exposure to fine particulate matter exceeds the WHO thresholds increasing to
60%, up from 12% a decade previously. In contrast Kuwait is one of the most
improved countries over the past decade. The number of life years lost due to
air pollution has reduced by nearly 25% and its public satisfaction with air
quality has increased from 56% to 74%.
In
September 2021, the WHO reduced its recommended limits for the most harmful forms
of air pollution in response to new scientific evidence suggesting that the
health implications of emissions had been historically underestimated. In the
first such study in over a decade, the WHO introduced a number of reduced
limits, including for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with the new limit 75% lower than
previously established in 2005.
biodiversity of life populating all these domains. This generation will be judged by the totality of the legacy that is passed on to future generations.The challenge for stewarding the natural
environment is a multi-dimensional one, balancing the interests of current and
future generations across different parts of the globe, who are affected and
concerned by a range of challenges, not only atmospheric, but also with respect
to the quality of water, soil, oceans and the
Did
you know?
Air
pollution is one of the world’s leading risk factors for death, with an
estimated 91% of the global population exposed to unhealthy levels of
pollution, resulting in an estimated seven million premature deaths around the
world each year.
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