Poverty's Pollution: India's Battle With Environmental Degradation

India's environmental instability is a multifaceted issue with multiple causes and effects, one of which is poverty. With 68.8% of India's population living on less than $2 per day, the country is particularly vulnerable to poverty, and this poverty is closely linked to the state of the environment. As environmental stability declines, poverty increases, and vice versa. This is due to the negative impact of environmental instability on local economies, which often turn to more affordable but polluting forms of energy. This pollution disproportionately affects poorer households, causing illnesses that are passed from mother to child and creating a physically weaker population that struggles to participate in the local economy. This results in a cycle of poverty caused by a lack of education and high-paying jobs.

Poor households bear the brunt of pollution

India has the second-highest population in the world, with roughly 68.8% of its population surviving on under $2 per day. Women and children are disproportionately affected by this poverty. The country's environmental instability and poverty are closely linked and have a symbiotic relationship. As environmental stability decreases, poverty increases, and vice versa.

A study by the Yale School of the Environment found that poorer households in India are bearing a disproportionate impact from pollution caused by others. The study, titled "Household contributions to and impacts from air pollution in India," was published in the journal Nature Sustainability. It is the first to analyze and review how different households contribute to air pollution and the impact of pollution on different households by income level.

The study found that most pollution from poorer households comes from the use of biomass-burning cookstoves that rely on wood and kerosene, directly impacting indoor pollution levels in their homes. In contrast, higher-income groups indirectly contribute to pollution through the manufacturing of the products they consume, their use of transportation, and electricity. Wealthier households are shielded from the effects of pollution due to their access to air conditioning, better healthcare, and more efficient buildings and clean-energy stoves.

The data showed that transport and indirect emissions associated with household consumption contributed almost twice as much to ambient particle matter concentrations as direct emissions from biomass cookstoves. The mortality risk from these indirect sources falls disproportionately on lower-income households, exacerbating the risks they already face from cookstoves. Indians born in low-income households are nine times more vulnerable to dying prematurely than those from the highest-income households.

The study concluded that providing low-income households with clean cooking fuels remains the most effective way to reduce premature deaths from air pollution in India. Additionally, industry-wide pollution controls and replacing kitchen stoves with cleaner alternatives can also help reduce air pollution inequity.

Cooking fuel and stoves

Cooking with solid fuels is a major source of early death and ill health among lower-income Indians. According to the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution contributes to nearly 4.3 million deaths annually, with women and children disproportionately affected. This is due to their increased exposure to the fumes from solid biomass fuel, such as wood, crop waste, or charcoal, which are inefficiently burned in open fires or rudimentary stoves.

In India, over 70% of households and 90% of households in poorer, rural areas used traditional solid fuels in 2001. The continued use of solid biomass fuels in traditional stoves across the developing world is seriously affecting the health of people who are already vulnerable. Fumes from solid biomass fuel have been a major contributor to the over 1.5 million premature deaths from air pollution every year in India.

To address this issue, there have been efforts to encourage the use of cleaner cooking fuels and stoves. Some of these initiatives include:

• Subsidizing the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and clean-air policies: This has driven a rise in the adoption of gas stoves in India, reaching 70% in 2022.
• Distributing improved biomass stoves: These stoves are designed to be more efficient, reduce smoke exposure, and/or increase fuel efficiency. However, there is limited evidence of their health benefits, as many people continue to use their old stoves or traditional fuels alongside the new ones.
• Promoting the use of electricity or gas: Researchers and development agencies are suggesting that promoting cleaner fuels, such as electricity or gas, may be a more sustainable solution than improved biomass stoves.
• Implementing clean air policies: These policies aim to reduce indoor air pollution and improve respiratory health.

While these initiatives have had some success, there are still challenges to overcome. For example, not all low-income households have benefited equally from the switch to cleaner cooking fuels, and some households have returned to using firewood or kerosene due to the high upfront costs of gas. Additionally, there may be cultural and economic reasons why some families continue to use traditional fuels and stoves, even after adopting cleaner alternatives.

Environmental instability and poverty

India has the world's second-largest population, making it particularly vulnerable to poverty. About 68.8% of Indians live on less than $2 per day, with women and children being disproportionately impacted. India also suffers from environmental instability, and these two issues are closely linked. As environmental stability declines, so does poverty, and vice versa. This is because environmental instability impairs local economies, which then turn to more affordable, polluting energy sources, perpetuating the cycle.

Environmental instability in India is a complex issue with many causes and effects, making it challenging to find solutions. Unpredictable weather patterns, for instance, caused by rising temperatures, disrupt agriculture, which accounts for 16% of India's GDP and employs about 49% of its workforce. Fluctuations in rainfall, temperature, and dry days can cause farmers to lose 15-25% of their income, depending on irrigation access.

Additionally, pollution in India has severe health and economic consequences. It causes illnesses that are often passed from mother to child, creating a physically weaker population that struggles to participate in the local economy. Children born in polluted areas also face limited learning potential due to pollution-induced illnesses, trapping them in a cycle of poverty due to a lack of education and well-paying jobs. Pollution disproportionately affects poorer households, who bear the brunt of its impacts without contributing significantly to it.

India's reliance on fossil fuels has led to increased ozone levels, harming crop yields. Crops are also affected by pollutants in the soil from chemical use, poor irrigation, and waste management issues. This reduces crop output, strains farmers and their families, and leads to poverty in rural areas. Pollution-related deaths occur predominantly in impoverished countries, with 92% of such deaths in poverty-stricken nations.

Addressing environmental instability and poverty in India requires a range of solutions. While some suggest transitioning to cleaner energy sources and transport options, others argue for the necessity of affordable and reliable fossil fuels for economic development. India's environmental history has been challenging, but there is growing momentum for positive change, with various initiatives promoting stability and education on environmental practices.

Pollution and economic losses

India's poor are disproportionately affected by pollution, according to a study by Yale School of the Environment Associate Professor of Energy Systems Narasimha Rao. The study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, found that low-income groups bear the brunt of pollution caused by others, despite not producing a lot of air pollution themselves. This is due to their lack of access to resources that shield against the effects of pollution, such as air conditioning, better healthcare, efficient buildings, and clean-energy stoves.

The economic losses due to pollution in India are substantial. A study by researchers from the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health at Boston College found that air pollution in India resulted in 1.67 million deaths in 2019, the largest pollution-related death toll in any country that year. The economic losses attributed to these premature deaths were $36.8 billion, or 1.36% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The economic impact of pollution is not limited to direct costs such as healthcare expenditures but also includes indirect costs like the loss of output due to premature mortality and morbidity. The total economic loss due to lost output from premature deaths and morbidity attributable to air pollution in India in 2019 was estimated to be $28.8 billion, with an additional $8 billion lost due to morbidity.

The high burden of death and disease due to air pollution is impeding India's aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024. Air pollution adversely affects economic productivity and reduces labour supply, hindering the country's economic growth. Diseases caused by air pollution, such as heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and reduced intelligence quotient, further compound the economic losses.

However, investing in air pollution control strategies can have significant economic benefits. For example, the removal of lead from gasoline in the USA has been linked to increased economic output through reductions in children's blood lead concentrations, resulting in improved intelligence, creativity, and economic productivity. Similarly, successful pollution reduction policies in China and the United States have demonstrated that controlling air pollution can go hand-in-hand with economic growth.

Overall, addressing air pollution in India is not just a matter of improving public health but also an essential investment in the country's future economic growth. State-specific strategies and investments in pollution control measures will be crucial to reducing the adverse health and economic impacts of air pollution across India.

Pollution and health

India has the second-highest population in the world, with roughly 68.8% of its population surviving on under $2 per day. This makes India particularly susceptible to poverty, and as the country’s environmental stability decreases, poverty increases, and vice versa.

Environmental instability in India has a direct impact on the quality of life of its citizens, causing illnesses that are often passed from mother to child. Children born in areas with high pollution have limited learning potential, and as a result, are at a disadvantage when it comes to education and finding a job. This creates a cycle of poverty, with a lack of education and high-paying jobs.

A study by Yale School of the Environment Associate Professor of Energy Systems Narasimha Rao found that poorer households in India disproportionately suffer the impact of pollution caused by others. Rao states that "low-income groups, despite not producing a lot of air pollution indirectly because they don't consume much, are facing a disproportionate impact of air pollution from other sources".

The main sources of indoor air pollution in India are combustion, building material, and bioaerosols. The combustion products of biomass fuels contribute most to indoor air pollution, with 49% of people using firewood for cooking. This has been linked to an increased risk of stillbirths and low birth weight babies.

Outdoor air pollution was the fifth-largest killer in India, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study for 2010, with around 620,000 early deaths occurring from air pollution-related diseases in 2010. A more recent study from 2019 found that 39.5% of the total DALYs (disability-adjusted life-years) attributable to air pollution in India that year were from lung diseases, including COPD, lower respiratory infections, and lung cancer.

To reduce the health impacts of air pollution in India, the central and state governments should allocate long-term funding to prevention methods. Providing low-income households with clean cooking fuels has been suggested as a way to reduce the number of premature deaths from air pollution.

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