A U.N. environmental report is calling for an "immediate and ambitious action" to ban some toxic chemicals as it is in breach of human rights.

The report points out that more than 9 million premature deaths occur every year due to pollution from pesticides, plastics, and electronic waste, and the issue has been largely overlooked.

"Pollution is killing more people every single year than the COVID pandemic has killed over the course of the past two years, and yet, it gets nowhere near the amount of attention from the public or from policymakers," said David Boyd, a U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly 5.9 million deaths, according to data aggregator Worldometer.

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The report tackles issues such as banning polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl, which are man-made substances often used in household products. These substances are not only linked to cancer but also cannot be broken down easily.

The report also tackles issues such as cleaning up the polluted sites and relocating affected communities from polluted areas, so-called "sacrifice zones."

"I think we have an ethical and now a legal obligation to do better," David Boyd believes.

He considers the report to be the most hard-hitting yet, and the report is due to be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month.