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STORY: WORLD BANK / AIR POLLUTION REPORT
TRT: 01:59
SOURCE: WORLD BANK GROUP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 MARCH 2025, WASHINGTON DC / FILE
FILE - Kyrgyz Republic
1. Aerial shot, city view
FILE - Bihar, India
2. Wide shot, foggy village view
3. Wide shot, Smoke from burning farmland
24 MARCH 2025, WASHINGTON DC
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Genevieve Connors, Acting Global Director, Environment, World Bank:
“Too many people are breathing dirty air, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and we estimate the economic costs of outdoor air pollution to be about 5 percent of global GDP. So urgent action is really needed now, and our new report shows that this is both possible and affordable.”
FILE – HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA
4. Various shots, city view, new energy charging station, air Quality Monitoring (AQM) station, staff analyzing air quality in Hebei Province
24 MARCH 2025, WASHINGTON DC
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Genevieve Connors, Acting Global Director, Environment, World Bank:
“The report focuses on three things: improving governance, improving the quality of the data, and supplementing public with private investment. And of course, we also need cooperation
both within countries and between countries.”
FILE - INDIA, BIHAR
5. Various shots, a woman cooking
6. Wide shot, a woman walking in a trash-burning area
7. Wide shot, a women gathering to learn about the environment
24 MARCH 2025, WASHINGTON DC
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Genevieve Connors, Acting Global Director, Environment, World Bank:
“Let me give you an example of how the World Bank is supporting countries. In South Asia, we're supporting the adoption of common methods for monitoring air quality in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the Himalayan foothills – an area in South Asia that is home to almost 900
million people and spans five countries.”
FILE – SENEGAL
9. Various shots, electric bus
FILE – VIETNAM
10. Ariel shot, man driving a motorcycle through farmland
FILE – SENEGAL
11. Wide shot, neighborhood street view with dirty water and trash
24 MARCH 2025, WASHINGTON DC
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Genevieve Connors, Acting Global Director, Environment, World Bank:
“Air pollution knows no borders. So we must work together to drive real change and create a future that is breathable and livable for future generations.”
13. Various shots, exterior, World Bank Group Headquarters
The number of people exposed to dangerously high level of air pollution could be halved by 2040 with targeted policy action, according to a new World Bank report.
The study estimates that outdoor air pollution kills roughly 5.7 million lives annually, with 95 percent of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, and accounts for a loss equivalent to nearly 5 percent of global GDP, due to health impacts, lost productivity, and reduced life expectancy.
The report “Accelerating Access to Clean Air on a Livable Planet” highlights that changes to policies can help to cut the number of people exposed to high levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter). Globally, most outdoor air pollution comes from human activities, so policy changes across the sectors that cause air pollution, agriculture, urban development, transport, and industry, as well as residential cooking and heating can help reduce particulate matter in the air that is harmful to health. In some regions, desert dust contributes as a significant source of fine particulate matter.
