“Air pollution is fatal; it can slash life expectancy of people living in North India by 9 years.”

My LinkedIn comment on this ET story:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/air-pollution-is-fatal-it-can-slash-life-expectancy-of-people-living-in-north-india-by-9-years/articleshow/85825326.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/praveenguptafcii_air-pollution-is-fatal-it-can-slash-life-activity-6838846162812899328-FPnK

As air quality deteriorates so will overall health of the people, demand for health insurance will surely grow. However, is upping premiums the only response insurers can provide? Would not insurers wish to introspect their role in raising the pollution levels by say insuring and investing in the #fossilfuels and other unsustainable businesses?

Indeed, insurers have a significant role and do some amazing things for the society at large. But this is truly ‘oxymoronic’ – that you aid and abet health conditions and then also insure them. And it is not just physical health. A latest study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry reveals exposure to air pollution leads to more severe mental illness (https://lnkd.in/ew7EuCYk), We have most number of polluted cities and rank amongst the top three CO2 emitting countries, in the world. Btw, women and children are the most vulnerable of the lot. We are in the midst of a serious global #climatecrisis. Should this pass us by as just another news story?!