The global phase-out of leaded fuel represents a “milestone for
multilateralism”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, marking the
end of a 20-year campaign to eliminate a major threat to the
health of people and the planet.
“Lead in fuel has run out of gas – thanks to the cooperation of
governments in developing nations, thousands of businesses and
millions of ordinary people,” he said.
Healthy, wealthy and wise
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) spearheaded the
initiative to put the brakes on a century of leaded petrol use.
The move is expected to net the global economy $2.45 trillion in
savings.
Mr. Guterres highlighted the health benefits.
“Ending the use of leaded petrol will prevent more than one
million premature deaths each year from heart disease, strokes
and cancer,” he said. “And it will protect children whose IQs are
damaged by exposure to lead.”
Inger Andersen, the UNEP Executive Director, echoed his message.
“Overcoming a century of deaths and illnesses that affected
hundreds of millions and degraded the environment worldwide, we
are invigorated to change humanity’s trajectory for the better
through an accelerated transition to clean vehicles and electric
mobility.”
Road to riddance
The world officially said goodbye to leaded petrol in July, when
service stations in Algeria stopped offering it to drivers.
Vehicles have been running on leaded fuel since 1922, when the
compound tetraethyllead was added to gasoline to boost engine
performance.
By the 1970s, almost all petrol produced worldwide contained
lead, UNEP said. The health impacts have been catastrophic, as
the Secretary-General pointed out, but the environment has
suffered too, with air and soil contamination just two examples.
Most high-income nations had prohibited leaded petrol use by the
1980s, but almost all low and middle-income countries were still
using it as late as 2002.
That same year, UNEP began the Partnership for Clean Fuels and
Vehicles (PCFV), the public-private alliance behind the campaign.
The initiative brought together all stakeholders, and its
activities included raising awareness and overcoming resistance
from local oil dealers and producers of lead, as well as
investing in refinery upgrades and providing technical
assistance.
After a 20-year campaign, the use of leaded petrol or gasoline
has ended worldwide, including in Chad. (pictured)
Challenges to progress
Progress aside, UNEP noted that the growth in vehicle use
globally contributes to air, water and soil pollution, as well as
the climate crisis. Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport
sector will rise from nearly a quarter to one-third by 2050,
according to the agency.
Although many countries are transitioning to electric cars, with
1.2 billion new vehicles hitting the road in the coming decades,
many nations, particularly in the developing world, are still
dependent on fossil fuels.
UNEP said millions of poor-quality used vehicles, imported to
countries from Europe, the United States and Japan, are adding to
global warming and air pollution, and are also bound to cause
accidents.
Inspiration for a greener future
“That a UN-backed alliance of governments, businesses and civil
society was able to successfully rid the world of this toxic fuel
is testament to the power of multilateralism to move the world
towards sustainability and a cleaner, greener future,” said Ms.
Andersen.
“We urge these same stakeholders to take inspiration from this
enormous achievement to ensure that now that we have cleaner
fuels, we also adopt cleaner vehicles standards globally – the
combination of cleaner fuels and vehicles can reduce emissions by
more than 80 per cent.”
The “international success story” was an example of what
countries can accomplish when they work together for the common
good, the Secretary-General said, and he called for this same
commitment to be directed to ending the “triple crises” of
climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Solidarity and science
Mr. Guterres repeated his longstanding appeal for Governments to
shift away from fossil fuels, such as coal, to renewable sources,
and to reform the energy, food, transport and financial sectors
to work with nature, not against it.
“To succeed, we need international cooperation. Compromise.
Solidarity. All guided by science,” he said.
“Let’s focus all our efforts on making peace with nature. And
let’s build a cleaner, greener future for all.”
