Get the knowledge: How products cause pollution

In countries in the Global North (mostly located in North America and Europe), legislation introduced in the 1960s and 1970s largely addressed the most serious pollution issues - but still today new problems are emerging. These include contamination from fracking slag and chemicals known as PFAS in the US.

While the Global North continues to crack down on pollution, perhaps more concerning is pollution related to the manufacture of products across the Global South, (Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania), many of which are shipped to markets in these regions. 

While global brands may stipulate that their manufacturers and suppliers operate to certain standards, long and complex supply chains make it difficult to track and verify pollution levels. There are also significant waste issues associated with some products and services, the costs of which are rarely factored in upfront, so the costs of ensuing pollution from landfills or waste treatment facilities are seldomly covered by the cost of the product.

Pollution kills

A number of NGOs work to highlight pollution problems, such as FoE mining, Greenpeace toxic fashion, Ciel electronics, and PAN pesticides. 

The 2017 Lancet Commission on Pollution & Health report indicated that exposure to polluted soil, water and air contributes to nearly nine million deaths worldwide each year - that’s one in seven people who die each year. To further illustrate the north-south divide - more than 92% of these fatalities happen in low- and middle-income countries.

In 2022, the report was updated, indicating that the impact of pollution remains large, and the number of annual deaths has not decreased since 2015. The report suggests that data which shows air pollution causes over 6.5m deaths/year, while lead and other chemical exposures are responsible for 1.8m deaths/year, are probably underestimated.