Report: Asia Contains 99 of the World's 100 Most Polluted Cities

Facts

• Ninety-nine of the 100 cities with the world's most polluted air last year were in Asia, with 83 of them located in India, according to a report released by air quality tracker IQAir.¹
• In 2023, the world's most polluted city was Begusarai in the northern Indian state of Bihar. It had an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 micrograms per cubic meter, 23 times WHO guidelines.¹
• Bangladesh was the most polluted country, followed by Pakistan and India. For the fourth consecutive year, Delhi was the most polluted capital.²
• Only 10 countries or territories, including Australia and New Zealand, met the WHO's clean-air standard of an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.³
• The report said vehicular traffic, along with coal and industrial emissions, were major reasons for south Asia's high PM2.5 level, reportedly causing millions of premature deaths each year.⁴
• Despite witnessing progress since launching its 'war against pollution' in 2014, China last year saw a 6.3% increase in air pollution, reportedly due to the reopening of its economy following COVID pandemic.⁴

Sources: ¹CNN, ²Mint, ³Time and ⁴New York Times.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by IMF. The early industrialization of Western nations has had devastating consequences for poorer countries in the developing world. Richer nations have a responsibility to finance the changes in infrastructure and protection desperately needed in Asia. The IMF has clearly laid out the severity of climate inequality — it is time that the US and UK, among others, started paying.
• Narrative B, as provided by Washington Post. Despite the havoc it is playing globally, China has doubled down on its dependence on coal power. Over half of global air pollution is caused by China's coal mines, while a major part of the remaining share goes to another massive coal consumer — India. It looked very briefly like China was beginning to finally see sense when it launched its war on pollution in 2014, but those efforts have clearly tapered. There's no point in the West hampering itself economically for the sake of counteracting the refusal of these huge nations to progress environmental reform.

Predictions