Air pollution costs the Middle East and North Africa about $141 billion a year, or 2% of economic output, according to a World Bank report which urged nations to reform fossil-fuel subsidies, provide cleaner transport and create markets for emissions. The findings will likely add to growing interest in green and sustainability-linked bonds and loans in the region, where offerings jumped two-and-a-half fold to almost $19 billion in 2021 from the year before. Borrowers can often cut costs through green bonds, used to fund projects to reduce emissions. The biggest cities in the Middle East are among the most polluted in the world, with the average urban resident breathing in air that exceeds by more than 10 times the level of pollutants considered safe by the World Health Organization, the bank said Monday. Air pollution led to nearly 270,000 deaths per year. It also found that an average resident […]