South Africa is home to many of the world’s worst air pollution sites for toxic nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
According to Greenpeace, an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists: most of world’s worst air pollution sites are operated by Eskom, South Africa’s state power utility.
Coal-fired power plants operated by Eskom account for five of the world’s biggest single source nitrogen-dioxide emission sites and two of the worst sulfur-dioxide sites.
This is according to Greenpeace in a study titled, Major Air Polluters in Africa, released on Thursday.
Sasol, a South African petrochemicals company, operated another of the world’s top 10 nitrogen dioxide sites.
South Africa, which relies on coal for the generation of more than 80% of its electricity, has some of the world’s worst air pollution with emission standards that, while considerably more lenient than in other major polluters China and India, are rarely enforced. Across Africa, Eskom is even more dominant in terms of the number of polluting sites it operates.
Greenpeace added that the 10 largest nitrogen dioxide point sources identified in Africa are all thermal-power stations, nine of which are in South Africa.
Eskom didn’t respond to a query about the findings by Greenpeace.
Still, industrial pollution on the African continent extends beyond South Africa, its most developed nation.
Greenpeace, Greenpeace, an independent global campaigning network added that an Ivory Coast power company rounds out the 10 top nitrogen dioxide emission sites in Africa, while Zimbabwe, Mali, Morocco and Egypt have plants emitting sulfur dioxide in the top 10 on the continent, Greenpeace said.
The pollutants cause a range of ailments ranging from respiratory disease to heart attacks, strokes and stillbirths, and a plethora of other illnesses.
Greenpeace is a global network of organisations that campaign against environmental degradation.
