**New Delhi:** Outdoor air pollution from coal, liquid gas and petrol use led to over 17 lakh deaths in India in 2022, according to the latest [Lancet Countdown](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01919-1/abstract) on Health and Climate Change. This is a 38 percent increase from 2010, said the report released Tuesday. Globally, there were 2.5 million deaths due to ambient air pollution from fossil fuels in 2022.
Coming at a time when Delhi’s Air Quality Index levels have remained above 250 (‘poor’ category) for the second week in a row, the report focuses heavily on how ambient air pollution has claimed lives globally. In India, specifically, emissions from fossil fuel usage rose by 21 percent between 2016 and 2022, and in certain sectors like transport, 96 percent of all energy needs came from fossil fuels.
Apart from fossil fuel usage, increased instances of wildfires too, said the report, led to 1.54 lakh deaths globally in 2024.
“The delay in transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards healthy, renewable energy… is costing lives and straining the economy,” it read.
“This Lancet report is a horrifying confirmation: India is paying with its people’s lives for the world’s fossil fuel addiction,” said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, in a statement. “Our nation’s reliance on coal, oil, and gas is causing a public health emergency, with air pollution alone costing millions of lives annually.”
This is the ninth edition of the Lancet Global Countdown Report, compiled yearly starting 2015. The report is an international, peer-reviewed publication where scientists from around the world assess how global health indicators are impacted by global climate change processes.
Apart from the data on air pollution, the report also cautioned against other factors pertaining to global climate that have a negative impact on human health—heatwaves, floods, landslides, and other extreme weather events. This edition of the report also focused on how the global transmission potential of certain diseases, like dengue, has increased manifold because of changing climatic conditions.
Entei_is_doge on
Renewables and EVs solve this, and it’s my understanding India is working towards this?
randommathaccount on
[Interesting and somewhat related article from NBER](https://www.nber.org/digest/20232/paying-indian-farmers-not-burn-agricultural-residue?page=1&perPage=50) Crop burning is a major source of air pollution in India (one trip to Sonipat and you’ll understand) and this article found that Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) contracts served to reduce crop burning by farmers. Specifically, providing an initial upfront payment and promising the rest of the payment on the condition that the farmers stopped crop burning saw a 10 percentage points increase in contract compliance compared to when farmers were provided a standard contract in which they received all the money conditionally at the end of the contract period.
PoliticalAlt128 on
I didn’t know what a “lakh” was so for the benefit of any orher stupid Americans it’s 100,000. 17 lakh is equal to 1,700,000 people
4 Comments
**New Delhi:** Outdoor air pollution from coal, liquid gas and petrol use led to over 17 lakh deaths in India in 2022, according to the latest [Lancet Countdown](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01919-1/abstract) on Health and Climate Change. This is a 38 percent increase from 2010, said the report released Tuesday. Globally, there were 2.5 million deaths due to ambient air pollution from fossil fuels in 2022.
Coming at a time when Delhi’s Air Quality Index levels have remained above 250 (‘poor’ category) for the second week in a row, the report focuses heavily on how ambient air pollution has claimed lives globally. In India, specifically, emissions from fossil fuel usage rose by 21 percent between 2016 and 2022, and in certain sectors like transport, 96 percent of all energy needs came from fossil fuels.
[](https://vdo.ai/contact?utm_medium=video&utm_term=theprint.in&utm_source=vdoai_logo)
Apart from fossil fuel usage, increased instances of wildfires too, said the report, led to 1.54 lakh deaths globally in 2024.
“The delay in transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards healthy, renewable energy… is costing lives and straining the economy,” it read.
“This Lancet report is a horrifying confirmation: India is paying with its people’s lives for the world’s fossil fuel addiction,” said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, in a statement. “Our nation’s reliance on coal, oil, and gas is causing a public health emergency, with air pollution alone costing millions of lives annually.”
This is the ninth edition of the Lancet Global Countdown Report, compiled yearly starting 2015. The report is an international, peer-reviewed publication where scientists from around the world assess how global health indicators are impacted by global climate change processes.
Apart from the data on air pollution, the report also cautioned against other factors pertaining to global climate that have a negative impact on human health—heatwaves, floods, landslides, and other extreme weather events. This edition of the report also focused on how the global transmission potential of certain diseases, like dengue, has increased manifold because of changing climatic conditions.
Renewables and EVs solve this, and it’s my understanding India is working towards this?
[Interesting and somewhat related article from NBER](https://www.nber.org/digest/20232/paying-indian-farmers-not-burn-agricultural-residue?page=1&perPage=50) Crop burning is a major source of air pollution in India (one trip to Sonipat and you’ll understand) and this article found that Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) contracts served to reduce crop burning by farmers. Specifically, providing an initial upfront payment and promising the rest of the payment on the condition that the farmers stopped crop burning saw a 10 percentage points increase in contract compliance compared to when farmers were provided a standard contract in which they received all the money conditionally at the end of the contract period.
I didn’t know what a “lakh” was so for the benefit of any orher stupid Americans it’s 100,000. 17 lakh is equal to 1,700,000 people