The World Bank, in a new report, has disclosed that Nigeria, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo top the list of countries with the highest poverty and pollution exposure.
In the report, titled, ‘Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies’, it was stated that trillions of dollars are wasted on subsidies for agriculture, fishing and fossil fuels that could be used to help address climate change.
According to the report, there are about 716 million poor people in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution.
The report read in part, “Low- and middle-income countries account for 80 per cent of people exposed to unsafe levels of PM. Moreover, 716 million poor people (living on under US$1.90 per day) live in areas with unsafe levels of air pollution.”
It added that about half of this population is in India, Nigeria and Congo.