I think the growth in the LNG market, as I discussed at the start, is significant. We have a market today that has a demand for about 360 million tonnes a year. By 2040, that's going to increase to 700 million tonnes a year globally, with the majority of that demand coming from Asia. You'll also note that many of my joint venture partners are headquartered in Asia and will be bringing the volumes of Canadian natural gas into their respective global portfolios.
I think the demand is robust. We are structurally advantaged relative to our nearest competitor here in the U.S. In terms of sailing distance, we are geographically advantaged. It's a 10-day sail from Kitimat into Tokyo Bay to deliver gas into Japan, versus 25 days out of the U.S. gulf coast. I think there's a structural advantage. I've talked about the advantages in terms of our GHG emissions.
Fundamentally, it's really important that LNG is displacing these more carbon-intensive sources of energy, such as coal, but it's helping to improve air quality in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. In China alone, over 1.6 million people a year die from health issues due to poor air quality. By helping to displace those higher-emitting sources such as coal, LNG is going to help clean up the skies and clean up the air in Asia.