Vice President said World Bank Group For the Middle East and North Africa, Farid Belhaj, in an interview with Al Arabiya, on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meetings, said that over the past twelve months, $5 billion was allocated to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
It is noteworthy that the World Bank announced in a report published last February that air pollution costs the Middle East and North Africa about $141 billion annually, calling on countries in the region to make their economies “greener.”
The World Bank report indicated that the cost of air pollution, in addition to pollution of the seas and coasts, is “estimated at more than 3% of GDP” in some countries in the region such as Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen, noting that “air pollution levels in major cities in the region are among the highest. In the world”.
“Productivity drops if residents are unable to work after they or their family members fall ill due to air pollution,” the report, titled “Clear Skies, Clear Seas,” states, “Health care costs can be a significant burden on individuals and governments.”