NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 7— Every US$1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together could generate about US$15 in economic benefits, a new United Nations assessment has found, strengthening the case for governments and investors to treat environmental action as an economic investment rather than a cost.

📻 Breaking It Down

The report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) warns that failure to act is already carrying a huge economic price, with each year of delayed action estimated to forgo more than US$1.5 trillion in benefits, equivalent to about 0.5 per cent of global GDP.

The findings are contained in Hidden Assets: The Economic and Health Case for Climate and Clean Air Action , released on Monday to coincide with the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. It is described as the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated climate and clean-air action.

The report found that combining climate and air-pollution policies generates significantly greater returns than addressing the two challenges separately, because many of the same sources and sectors drive both problems.

📌 What You Need to Know

“For too long, we have treated climate action as a cost to be managed and air pollution as the unfortunate outcome of development. This report shows the opposite: clean air is a key driver of development, health, food and energy security, and climate stability – an asset we must invest in,” UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said.

“Proven solutions already exist. What we lack is the decisive leadership from governments, financial institutions, and businesses to deliver them with the speed and coordination this crisis demands,” she added.

The report estimates that implementing a package of 25 measures could generate annual economic benefits equivalent to 2.8 per cent of global GDP by 2035, 4.5 per cent by 2050 and 11.4 per cent by 2100.

Even when non-market welfare benefits are excluded, the measures would still generate about US$4 for every US$1 invested.

The economic gains would come through lower healthcare costs, improved worker productivity, reduced physical damage from climate impacts and the monetary value of fewer premature deaths and healthier lives.

The report also warns that the costs of inaction accumulate rapidly.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya