text for Commission section
Global Commission on Pollution + Health section of the site
- About
- The Lancet Report
- Global Pollution Map
- Solutions Resources
- Briefing Events
- Commissioner Portal
- Partner Portal
About
- Video (post when it is ready in April)
- Overview of Lancet Commission
- Core Team Leaders
- Commissioners
- Authors
- Advisors
- Reviewers
- Partner & Supporting Organizations
Overview of Lancet Commission
The Commission on Pollution and Health is an initiative of The Lancet, the Global
Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai, with coordination from the United Nations Environment Programme and the
World Bank. The Commission comprises many of the world’s leading researchers and
practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and
sustainable development. The aim of the Commission is to reduce air, soil and water
pollution by communicating the extraordinary health and economic costs of pollution
globally, providing actionable solutions to policy-makers and dispelling the myth of
pollution’s inevitability. The Commission Report will be published in The Lancet, one of
the world’s most prestigious and widely read medical journals.
Background
Environmental pollution is the single largest cause of disease and death in low- and
middle-income countries. Data from the World Health Organization and Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation suggest that in 2012, exposures to polluted soil, water
and air contributed to an estimated nine million deaths worldwide.1, 2 By comparison,
deaths from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis caused a combined three million
deaths.3, 4 More than one death in seven worldwide is the consequence of
environmental pollution.5 Despite the tremendous impacts on human health and the
global economy, environmental pollution has been undercounted and insufficiently
addressed in national policies and international development agendas.6, 7
Pollution is strongly linked to poverty.8 The overwhelming majority of the disease
burden from pollution—over 94%—falls on residents of low- and middle-income
countries. It disproportionally affects countries that are ill equipped to deal with the
problem, and vulnerable populations without the resources to protect themselves. The
disproportionate poisoning of the poor is a global environmental injustice. In addition to
impacts on human health, pollution carries an economic cost that is often overlooked.9
Pollution-related illnesses result in direct medical costs, costs to healthcare systems
and opportunity costs resulting from lost productivity and economic growth.
The good news is that many pollution controls are feasible, cost-effective and
replicable. The most effective strategies control pollution at its source. In many
countries, lead has been removed from gasoline, industrial discharges to air and water
have been controlled and highly toxic pesticides have been replaced by safer
substitutes. These actions provide a blueprint that can be replicated globally.
Despite its importance and preventability, environmental pollution has not received the
priority it merits in the international development agenda. Although international aid for
HIV, malaria and tuberculosis exceeded $28 billion in 2013, less than $1billion in
international assistance was allocated to tackle pollution. Solving the pollution problem
requires us to measure and demonstrate its true costs, and the benefits of addressing
it now. With that information in hand, world leaders can explain and justify actions to
solve the problem for current and future generations.
Scope and Goals
The Global Commission on Pollution and Health will reveal pollution’s severe and
underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease. It will uncover the
economic costs of pollution to low- and middle-income countries, and compare the
costs of inaction to the costs of available solutions. It will inform key decision makers
around the world about the burden that pollution places on health and economic
development, and about available pollution control strategies and solutions. The
Commission will bring pollution squarely into the international development agenda.
Core Team Leaders
The Commission is chaired by Philip Landrigan, MD, a distinguished professor and
physician, and the Dean for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Sinai, and by Richard Fuller, Founder and President of Pure Earth and Secretariat of the
Global Alliance on Health and Pollution.
The work of the Commission is overseen by a Steering Committee comprising:
Philip Landrigan, Commission Co-Chairman and Lead Author of Commission Report
Chapter 1; Richard Fuller, Commission Co-Chairman and Co-Lead Author of
Commission Report Chapter 4; Maureen Cropper, Co-Lead Author of Commission
Report Chapter 2; Alan Krupnick, Co-Lead Author of Commission Report Chapter 2;
Karti Sandilya, Lead Author of Commission Report Chapter 3; David Hanrahan, Co-
Lead Author of Commission Report Chapter 4; Andrew McCartor, Commission
Program Manager; Tim Kasten, representing the United Nations Environment
Programme; and Yewande Awe, representing the World Bank Group
The Chairmen are joined by an esteemed group of Commissioners from around the
world, which includes former heads of state, leaders of development agencies;
Ministers of Heath and Environment; a Nobel Laureate; distinguished physicians,
economists and scientists; noted environmental advocates and public figures.
Research and drafting for the Commission Report is coordinated through the office of
the GAHP Secretariat, Pure Earth, and includes contributions from Commissioners,
partner organizations, advisors, consultants and in-house staff. The Commission
Report will go through three phases of review before publication: an initial review by the
Steering Committee, a review by the Commissioners and a full peer-review according
to the internal publication guidelines of The Lancet.
Commissioners:
Neric Acosta – Former Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection, Government of the
Philippines
Olusoji Adeyi – Director, Health, Nutrition & Population Global Practice, The World
Bank Group; Director, Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria, Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (2009-2012)
Robert Arnold – Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of
Arizona
Kenneth Arrow – Nobel Laureate in Economics; Professor of Economics, Stanford
University
Siti Nurbaya Bakar – Minister of Environment and Forestry, Government of
Indonesia; Secretary General, Regional Representatives Council, Government of
Indonesia (2004-2013); Secretary General, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of
Indonesia (2001-2005)
Abdoulaye Bibi Baldé – Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development,
Republic of Senegal
Ralava Beboarimisa – Minister of the Environment, Ecology, Sea and Forestry,
Madagascar
Roberto Bertollini – Chief Scientist and WHO Representative to the EU World
Health Organization, Office at the European Union
Li Bingbing – Actress; singer; environmental protection advocate; UNEP Goodwill
Ambassador
Patrick Breysse – Director, National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Palaniappan Chidambaram – Union Minister of Finance, Government of India
(2004-2008, 2012-2014); Minister of Home Affairs, Government of India (2008-2012)
Thomas Chiles – DeLuca Chair of Biology and Vice Provost for Research, Boston
College
David Cooper – Deputy Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity
Maureen Cropper – Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
Valentin Fuster – Professor of Internal Medicine and cardiology, Physician in Chief
and Director, Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, Mount Sinai Medical
Center, New York, NY; General Director, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones
Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), Madrid, Spain; President, World Heart Federation
(2005-2006)
Michael Greenstone – Director, Energy Policy Institute at U. of Chicago; Milton
Friedman Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago
David Hanrahan – Senior Technical Advisor to the Global Alliance on Health and
Pollution (GAHP)
Sir Andy Haines – Professor, Departments of Social and Environmental Health
Research and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
David Hunter – Acting Dean, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Mukesh Khare – Professor of Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering
Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Rubén Kraiem – Partner, Covington and Burling
Alan J. Krupnick – Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Resources for the Future Center
for Energy and Climate Economics
Bruce Lanphear – Clinician Scientist, Child and Family Research Institute, BC
Children’s Hospital; Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Bindu Lohani – Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable
Development, Asian Development (ADB); Vice President for Finance and
Administration, Asian Development Bank (2007-2011)
Keith Martin – Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health;
Member of Parliament, Canada (1993-2011)
Karen Mathiasen – Senior Advisor, Office of the U.S. Executive Director, World Bank
Group; Director, Multilateral Development Banks, U.S. Dept. of Treasury
Maureen McTeer – Canadian Lawyer, Author, Women’s Rights and Health Advocate,
and Adjunct Professor of Health Law at the University of Ottawa
Christopher Murray – Professor of Global Health, University of Washington; Director,
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Ramon Paje – 19th Secretary of the Philippine Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR); former DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations; former
DENR Executive Director of the Minerals Development Council
Frederica Perera – Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Director of the
Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University
Janez Potocnik – European Commissioner for the Environment (2010-2014);
European Commissioner for Science and Research (2004-2010); Minister for European
Affairs, Government of Slovenia (2002-2004)
Alexander Preker – Executive Scholar & Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia
University, Mt. Sinai and NYU; President and CEO of the Health Investment & Financing
Corporation; former Head of Health Industry Group & Chief Economist for Health,
World Bank Group/IFC (1991-2013)
Jairam Ramesh – Member of the Indian Parliament; Minister of Rural Development,
Government of India (2011-2014); Minister of State, Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Government of India (2009-2011)
Johan Rockström – Professor of Environmental Science, Director of Stockholm
Resilience Centre, Stockholm University
Carlos Salinas – President, Mexico (1988-1994)
Aitkul Samakova – Member of Parliament, Kazakhstan; Minister of Environment,
Kazakhstan (2002-2006)
Leona Samson – Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT); Director, MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences
(2001-2012)
Karti Sandilya – Senior Advisor, Pure Earth; U.S. Resident Director, Asian
Development Bank (2002-2004); Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, India (1983-1986)
Onno van Schayck – Scientific Director of the Netherlands School of Primary Care
Research, Professor of preventative medicine, Maastricht University
Awa Marie-Coll Seck – Minister of Health, Republic of Senegal; Director,
Department of Policy, Strategy and Research and Department of Country and Regional
Support, UNAIDS (1996-2001)
Peter Sly – Professor of Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Senior Clinical
Research Fellow, the University of Queensland
Kirk Smith – Professor of Environmental Health, Director of the Global Health and
Environment Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Erik Solheim – United Nations Environment Programme, Executive Director and
Under-Secretary General of the United Nations
Achim Steiner – Former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme;
Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2001-2006)
Richard Stewart – Professor of Law, Director of the Frank J. Guarini Center on
Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law, New York University School of Law
William Suk – Director of the Center for Risk and Integrated Sciences, Director of the
Superfund Research Program, Chief of the Hazardous Substances Research Branch,
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn – Princess of Thailand; President,
Professor, Chulabhorn Research Institute
Gautam N. Yadama – Dean and Professor, Boston College School of Social Work
Kandeh Yumkella – Former Director-General of the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), Founder – Sustainable Energy for All
Ma Zhong – Professor and Dean, School of Environment and Natural Resources,
Renmin University of China; Senior Advisor, Ministry of Environmental Protection;
Council Member, China Council for International Cooperation of Environment and
Development
Authors
Get from Elena
Advisors
Kaushik Basu – World Bank Chief Economist
Stephan Boese-O’Reilly – Researcher
Clea Bowdery – Vance Center for Justice
Naomi Chakwin – Asian Development Bank
Rob DeLink – OECD
Olivier Deschenes – Environmental Economist, UCSB
Gabi Eigenmann – Ministry of Environment, Switzerland
Andrew Haines
Jill Hana – European Commission
Alistair Hunt (env. econ. U. Bath)-
Homi Kharas – Brookings Institute
Marisa Gil Lapetra –
Fernando Lugris – Minister of the Environment, Uruguay
Urvashi Nairan – World Bank
Ernesto Sanchez-Triana – World Bank Economist
Ralph Osterwoldt – Canadian Embassy
Marit Viktoria Pettersen – Norway MoFA
Annette Prüss-Üstün – World Health Organization
Marthe Delphine Rahelimalala – Madagascar Minstry of Environment
Pavit Ramachandran – Asian Development Bank
Sezaneh Seymour – Department of State
Ibrahima Sow – Global Environment Facility
Mathy Stanislaus – US EPA
Loic Viatte – Ministry of Environment, Sweden
Mona Mejsen Westergaard – Ministry of Environment, Denmark
Birgit Wolz – Ministry of Environment, Germany
Maria Neira – World Health Organization
Michael Kremer – Harvard University
Frank George (Technical Officer, Env. Health and Econ. WHO)
Julius Fobil – School of Public Health, University of Ghana
Shu Tao – College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University
Niladri Basu – McGill University, Canada
Reviewers
TBA
The Lancet Report
(Upload when doc are available in March)
- Executive Summary
- Infographic Summary
- Key Messages
- Recommendations
- Solutions
- Full Report
- Annexes
Global Pollution Map
- About
www.globalpollutionmap.org
We are working on a landmark report on the impact of pollution around the globe. Authored by 50 expert researchers and policymakers, the Global Commission on Pollution + Health will publish a report in The Lancet in the spring of 2017. The report will document the combined disease burden from air, water and soil pollution, calculate the economic impact, and examine the disproportionate harm pollution causes children and pregnant women. The report will also present a range of proven solutions to address the global pollution crisis, and call for increased investment in pollution control from national governments, foundations and the international community.
The research team has concluded from looking at all forms of pollution, that it is the leading cause of death in the world, stealing almost 10 million lives a year, 92% of those deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.
And this is still an underestimation because accurate data is missing from many severely effected countries.
- Crowd-sourced Pollution Reporting
That is where you and the map come in. This is an early prototype and we will be adding more data layers as they become available. Your reporting, telling your story, can help fill in those holes and bring an understanding of the human experience that gets lost in the numbers. Go to the Tell Your Pollution Story page, fill it out, upload your pictures then click the social media share button and invite your friends to do the same.
These entries will be shared with national and world leaders during report briefing events in New York, London, Delhi, Brussels, Mexico City and more to be announced.
Let’s make the invisible, hidden nature of water, soil, chemical and air pollution in poor communities, visible, so together #wecanfightpollution.
- National Geographic Your Shot – Tell Your Pollution Story
To support the work of the Global Commission on Pollution, Health and Development to be published in the Lancet in April 2017, we are calling all photographers to #TellYourPollutionStory. Show us how your community is affected by pollution on a daily basis. The report will bring to light the new evidence that pollution, in all its forms—air, water, and soil—is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, taking almost nine million lives every year. The majority of those deaths and disability—94 percent— occur in low- and middle-income countries. These are startling numbers that are hard to comprehend. But your images and captions will help transform this data into the many visible facets of human life and health being harmed by pollution.
Many forms of pollution are invisible, creating a challenge for photographers. Sometimes pollution is felt, not seen. Often it is not felt at all, but is still a serious, silent threat. We want to know what it looks like through your eyes and how pollution is impacting your community. Perhaps you’ve seen an environmental cleanup project, or have benefitted from a pollution control project. Show us what that is like.
The Your Shot editors will select their favorite hashtag entries to coincide with the publication of the commission’s report on April 17, 2017, right before Earth Day. However, the Commission on Pollution, Health and Development invites you to submit more detail about the pollution concerns in your community, and additional images, by visiting globalpollutionmap.org and clicking on “Tell Your Pollution Story.”
The Commission wants to know, through your words and images, how pollution has changed life in your community over the past 30 years. Have globalization and economic and industrial growth brought increased pollution and changed local life? Ask your community elders or grandparents for their perspective and old photos. What did your area look like before these changes? How has pollution altered the health issues you, your family, and your community are dealing with? What are your concerns for the future? Has any pollution been controlled or cleaned up in your neighborhood or village? What impact did that have? What remains to be cleaned up? What do you want world leaders to know about your environmental concerns? Entries will be displayed via a map and shared with leaders around the globe.
Solutions Resources
- Posted when report is complete in March
Briefing Events
Posted when determined in March
- New York
- London
- Delhi
- Mexico City
