Approximately 50,000 lives a year could be saved by 2030 if no new coal-fired power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, according to a groundbreaking peer reviewed study from researchers at Harvard University and Greenpeace International.

Air pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants in these regions currently cause an estimated 20,000 excess deaths per year, increasing to 70,000 by 2030 if coal-fired power plants presently planned or under construction go ahead. The majority of these mortalities (55,000 by 2030) will be in Southeast Asia.