27 October 2011: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) has announced a new study titled the “Global Benefits of Phasing Out Leaded Fuel.” The results of the study were outlined at the PCFV Global Partnership Meeting, which convened from 26-27 October 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to UNEP, improvements in intelligence quotient (IQ), reduced cardiovascular disease, and a decline in criminality are among the annual US$2.4 trillion benefits linked to phasing out leaded petrol identified in the study, produced by the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at California State University, Northridge. The study will be published in the Journal of Environmental Health in December 2011.

The PCFV is a public-private partnership involving civil society, governments and the private sector including major oil and vehicles companies, initiated during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The PCFV has supported over 80 countries to phase-out lead in transport fuel.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said the elimination of leaded petrol would “go down in history as one of the major environmental achievements of the past few decades,” and underscored that addressing environmental challenges generates multiple Green Economy benefits across countries and economies. [UNEP Press Release] [PCFV Website]