World Bank: 90% of global population living in unhealthy environments
The study warns that environmental decline has become an economic crisis, pointing to the loss of forests as an example.
A new World Bank report has revealed that nine out of every ten people across the globe are living in unhealthy environments, facing degraded land, polluted air, or water stress , conditions that are now undermining both economic growth and human wellbeing.
The report, Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet, shows that in low-income nations the situation is even more dire, with eight in ten people deprived of all three essentials: clean air, safe water, and fertile land.
According to the Bank, these deficits are placing immense pressure on livelihoods, public health, and long-term development prospects.
The study warns that environmental decline has become an economic crisis, pointing to the loss of forests as an example. Forest destruction, it notes, disrupts rainfall, dries soils, and fuels droughts, with the resulting economic damages running into billions of dollars each year.
“People and communities around the world are not just facing an environmental crisis, but an economic one,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director at the World Bank.
Despite the grim findings, the report stresses that the situation is not irreversible.
“The good news is that solutions exist. If countries make the right investments now, natural systems can be restored, with substantial returns on growth and jobs,” Trotsenburg said.
He added that the study “offers a new lens for looking at environmental challenges — not as constraints, but as opportunities for smarter development.”
Among the findings is what it calls the “nitrogen paradox.” While fertilizers have improved crop yields, excessive use in certain regions has harmed soils, water sources, and ecosystems, creating global costs estimated at $3.4 trillion each year.
Air and water pollution are also highlighted as silent destroyers of productivity, impairing human cognition, weakening potential, and adding to health burdens.
The report points to several cost-effective interventions. Smarter fertilizer use could deliver up to 25 times more benefits than costs while raising agricultural productivity.
Expanding access to safe water and sanitation could prevent countless deaths, with measures as simple as chlorinating drinking water potentially avoiding one in four child deaths linked to unsafe water.
It further notes that well-designed “pollution markets” — systems that put a price on pollution reduction, yield high returns, with every $1 invested generating between $26 and $215 in economic and health benefits.
Overall, the study concludes that managing nature efficiently could cut pollution by half while driving resilience and economic growth, positioning environmental protection as an opportunity rather than a burden.
