World Bank to monitor air quality in India, other key regions

Member countries of the World Bank on Monday pledged to pool funds to invest in a Pollution Management and Environmental Health (PMEH) programme, a new multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank, committed to improving people's health by curbing pollution.

The fund has taken shape mainly through initiatives taken by government officials from Egypt, Germany, Nigeria and Norway and top musicians from around the world who committed themselves  to improving people's health by ending pollution.

''Pollution contributes to the preventable deaths of an estimated 9 million people each year - most of them in developing countries.'' An estimated 7 million people were killed by diseases related to indoor and outdoor air pollution alone in 2012, according to the World Health Organisation.

The programme, with an initial total allocation of around $45 million, will focus primarily on air quality management in five major urban areas in China, Egypt, India, Nigeria and South Africa - a programme that could contribute to improved environmental health conditions for an estimated 150 million people in those cities over the next five years.

PMEH will also support other countries and cities of Sub-Saharan Africa, and aim to reduce land and water pollution, a World Bank release said.

Norway, the first of several countries to invest in the Pollution Management and Environmental Health (PMEH) program, announced it would invest $12 million over a period of four years for air pollution reduction in developing countries.

''We know what needs to be done. The technology exists. And any action we take will have almost immediate effect. What are we waiting for? Get rid of the smoke and people survive. It is as simple as that,'' said Børge Brende, Norway's minister of foreign affairs at the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day event on the US National Mall, in Washington DC on Saturday.

Musicians from China and the US performed an original score to a multimedia presentation dedicated to ending pollution for healthy lives.

Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day was organized by the Earth Day Network and Global Poverty Project and marked the 45th year anniversary of the founding of Earth Day.

The event aimed to educate and energize people to support development and environmental issues and served as a platform for the launch of the PMEH programme.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of people in the crowd and online, Nigeria's federal minister of Environment Laurentia Mallam pledged to improve environmental health in her country by 50 per cent by 2020. ''Nigerian citizens deserve air that is clean, water that is drinkable, and land that is safe from contamination,'' she said.

Appearing on stage with Nigeria were representatives from Egypt, Germany and the World Bank, as well as musicians from China and the United States who performed an original score to a multimedia presentation dedicated to ending pollution for healthy lives.

''Today's event confirms that we are not alone in this fight,'' said Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Dr Naglaa El-Ahwany. ''We have a huge opportunity to show leadership and find solutions that match the scale of the problem.'' Like Lagos, Egypt's capital Cairo is one of Africa's largest cities and suffers serious air quality health effects.

Renowned pianist Chen Sa prefaced the pollution multimedia piece by urging the audience to take action: ''Last year our Chinese premier declared a war on pollution,'' she said. ''Now we, as musicians and citizens from around the world, have come together to make a plea: We must end pollution globally.''

''We cannot separate the health of the planet and human health,'' said Jochen Flasbarth, Germany's state secretary at the federal ministry for the environment, nature conservation, building and nuclear safety, also speaking at the event. ''By protecting the environment and our natural resources, we will save lives.''

Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day was organised by the Earth Day Network and Global Poverty Project and marked the 45th year anniversary of the founding of Earth Day. The event aimed to educate and energise people to support development and environmental issues and served as a platform for the launch of the PMEH programme.