Gonzalo Sanz Segovia | 15/07/2025
Pollution is considered a consequence of living in the world today, but it’s also one of the most concerning risks for the future humanity. It affects not only the environment, but also human health, economic development and the most vulnerable populations.
This is one of the main conclusions from the Global Risk Report 2025, prepared by the World Economic Forum each year, which explores the most serious risks currently faced, gathering perspectives from more than 1,200 experts from different economic and social fields around the world. Pollution ranks among the 10 most pressing risks over the next 10 years. The generational perspective on this is also striking: participants under 30 rank it as the third most concerning risk.
The starting point isn’t promising: in 2024, six of the nine key threshold established in 2009 by the Stockholm Resilience Center were crossed. These thresholds should not be exceeded if we want to maintain the Earth’s stability at environmental, economic and social levels. The report warns that unsustainable production and consumption patterns are driving climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) refers to them as the Triple Planetary Crisis. Under this scenario, pollution is the highest environmental risk, causing illnesses and premature deaths around the world. Its impact is particularly devastating in low- and middle-income economies.
Atmospheric pollutants: a lethal threat
The particles that pollute air poses a serious threat to human health, especially to the vulnerable population (elderly, children and people with chronic illnesses). In addition to this direct impact on health, and the costs it entails, pollution significantly reduces labor productivity due to an increase in the number of sick days taken, which result in economic losses. This problem is global, but also uneven: low and medium income countries are exposed to much higher pollution levels and are therefore more exposed to these dangers.
Within the set of emissions that alter air quality, there are those known as “super pollutants”, or short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP), which remain in the atmosphere for a relatively short time (compared to greenhouse gases) but have a much greater proportional impact. The main SLCP are black carbon, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and tropospheric ozone. Together, they are responsible for up to 45% of global warming in the short term.
Black carbon, better known as soot, can travel thousands of kilometers and penetrate the bloodstream as we breathe, transporting toxic compounds throughout the body. In addition, at an environmental level, it contributes to accelerating the melting of ice in polar areas, altering rainfall patterns and reducing sunlight available to plants, thereby contributing to immense crop losses. Another critical super pollutant is methane, a gas whose main emission sources are fossil fuel extraction, agriculture and waste management. Although its presence in the atmosphere is relatively short (around 12 years), its climate impact is immediate, and it has a warming potential 80 times greater than CO2.
Chemicals and plastics: enemies of water
Water pollution has become a growing and complex concern, as it represents a significant risk to public health and ecosystems. Some of the most worrying compounds are the well-known “forever chemicals” or PFAs, which are found in many everyday products like clothing, nonstick kitchen utensils or cleaning products. PFA toxicity has been connected to fertility problems, cancer and weakening of the immune system.
Another major enemy of water is plastic. Our world produces more than 430 million tons of plastic every year, and 19 million tons of it are filtered into the environment. Plastic doesn’t degrade, and the World health Organization (WHO) has been warning for years about its presence in the natural environment, including water. It has also been detected in the human body and in the air, and the chemicals present it contains are released throughout their life cycle, with more than 13,000 harmful substances already identified.
Finally, pharmaceutical products have entered the category of pollutants of emerging concern, together with personal care products, sunscreens and detergents. Although it’s been known about for years, its scope is now being more strictly evaluated and regulatory review is underway. In particular, the discharge of antimicrobials into water bodies is contributing to resistance to medication in both humans and animals. In response, in 2024 the WHO published specific guidelines with the aim of improving pharmaceutical production practices and regulations.
Progressive land degradation
Pollution is mainly caused by intensive agriculture and inefficient management of industrial waste. The use of nitrogen fertilizers to increase agricultural productivity has led to significant soil pollution, which ends up filtering through groundwater and becoming a health problem. This is important because high levels of nitrate in drinkable water can cause severe problems in human health.
Waste management, be it industrial or urban, is also causing serious health problems. The report cites the example of human exposure to improperly treated electronic waste, the components of which can release chemical particles with adverse health effects. If urgent measures are not taken in this regard, their environmental, health and economic impact will be increasingly difficult to reverse.
