Air pollution is one of the biggest health risk factors for Bangladeshis, to the extent that a study from earlier this year reported that at least 123,000 people have died in the country because of indoor and outdoor air pollution.
The report concluded that the quality of the air was hazardous to the point that it could shorten the life of a child by 30 months or less.
But for a country such as ours, tackling air pollution might not be simple, as expressed by US Envoy for Air Quality James Schauer in a recent interview with Dhaka Tribune.
The key lies in taking a balanced approach.
As an LDC, Bangladesh needs a lot of energy if we wish to hit our development goals; and as it stands, our primary source of energy comes from coal-fired power plants.
While, in the long term, we need to find more sustainable and renewable sources of energy, in the here and now we need to make sure that our power plants burn coal in a way that emits carbon-dioxide but does not harm the environment. The US is a great example, in that regard.
However, ultimately, Bangladesh needs to move away from coal and adapt to renewable energy. But our air pollution dilemma is not limited to the energy sector: Brick kilns, vehicular emissions, and construction work are some of the biggest contributors of air pollution in our country -- brick kilns in particular are by far the biggest culprits, accounting for a staggering 58% of the overall air pollution.
The quality of the air in any given country is inextricably tied to the quality of life for the average citizen, and unless the government can formulate concrete policies in the corresponding sectors to tackle this long-standing issue, none of us can breathe easy.
