Climate change policies reduce air pollution and increase physical activity: Benefits, costs, inequalities, and indoor exposures

作者：Sean David Beevers, Nosha Assareh, Andrew V. Beddows, Gregor B. Stewart, Mike Holland, Daniela Fecht, Yunzhe Liu, Anna O. G. Goodman, Heather Walton, Christian Brand, Dimitris Evangelopoulos, D. L. Wood, Tuan V. Vu, David Dajnak · 发表于：Environment International · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.envint.2024.109164 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Air Quality and Health Impacts、Climate Change and Health Impacts、Vehicle emissions and performance

The burden of diseases attributable to air pollution is comparable to those of global health risks such as unhealthy diets and tobacco smoking, with many air pollution sources also emitting climate heating gases. In this UK study we estimated the co-benefits of Net Zero (NZ) climate policy on the health benefits of air pollution reduction, increased active travel, outdoor exposure inequalities and indoor air pollution changes. The study focused on two of the largest UK sources, road transport and building heating, with comparisons made between NZ and UK existing policy, referred to as Business as Usual (BAU). Particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2 ) and Ozone (O 3 ) projections were made between 2019 and 2050, with emphasis placed upon the NZ co-benefits in 2030 and 2040. We compared the UK BAU scenarios with the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Balanced Net Zero Pathway (BNZP) and Widespread Innovation (WI) pathway. Compared to BAU predictions, BNZP assumptions lead to more electric vehicles, reduced vehicle km, more low carbon building heating, and reduced emissions of NO 2 and PM 2.5 . By 2040 under BNZP, relative to BAU, the buildings sector was predicted to be three times more effective at reducing PM 2.5 than road transport. To help reduce the inequality gap the NZ building transition was tailored toward those most in need. Outdoor air pollution exposure inequalities prevailed across the socioeconomic spectrum, especially for NO 2 , but were less pronounce...