After almost 2 decades of intense diplomatic efforts by the United States and the United Nations to end toxic fuel, the production of leaded gasoline has now ended worldwide as the last refinery has exhausted its supply of the fuel that has been poisoning the air for almost a century. This feat was made known in a statement by UN’s Environment Programme as it marks success for the campaign by the UNEP-led global Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV).

Service stations in Algeria stopped providing leaded petrol in July, which marked the end of the use of leaded petrol globally. Leaded gasoline was used mainly in Africa and in other low-income countries, according to the UNEP. As of 2002, more than 100 countries were still burning the fuel.

The end of leaded petrol will support the realisation of multiple Sustainable Development Goals, including good health and well-being (SDG3), clean water (SDG6), clean energy (SDG7), sustainable cities (SDG11), climate action (SDG13) and life on land (SDG15).

The Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen, said: “The successful enforcement of the ban on leaded petrol is a huge milestone for global health and our environment.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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%.”

The Ghanaian Minister of Environment Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, said: “When the UN began working with governments and businesses to phase out lead from petrol, sub-Saharan African nations enthusiastically embraced this opportunity. Ghana was one of five West African countries to join early sub-regional workshops and declarations. Following PCFV’s media campaigns, reports, studies, exposing illegalities, and public testing done to expose high levels of lead in the population’s blood, Ghana became ever more determined to free its fuel from lead.”

An excerpt from the UNEP statement: “2021 has marked the end of leaded petrol worldwide, after it has contaminated air, dust, soil, drinking water and food crops for the better part of a century. Leaded petrol causes heart disease, stroke and cancer. It also affects the development of the human brain, especially harming children, with studies suggesting it reduced 5-10 IQ points. Banning the use of leaded petrol has been estimated to prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths per year, increase IQ points among children, save USD 2.45 trillion for the global economy, and decrease crime rates.”