Co-benefits Of Climate Change Mitigation Research Articles

Co-benefits of climate change mitigation from innovative agricultural water management: a case study of corn agroecosystem in eastern Canada

Co-benefits of climate change mitigation from innovative agricultural water management: a case study of corn agroecosystem in eastern Canada

Air quality and health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions by 2030: an interdisciplinary modeling study in Ahmedabad, India

Climate change-driven temperature increases worsen air quality in places where coal combustion powers electricity for air conditioning. Climate solutions that substitute clean and renewable energy in place of polluting coal and promote adaptation to warming through reflective cool roofs can reduce cooling energy demand in buildings, lower power sector carbon emissions, and improve air quality and health. We investigate the air quality and health co-benefits of climate solutions in Ahmedabad, India—a city where air pollution levels exceed national health-based standards—through an interdisciplinary modeling approach. Using a 2018 baseline, we quantify changes in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and all-cause mortality in 2030 from increasing renewable energy use (mitigation) and expanding Ahmedabad’s cool roofs heat resilience program (adaptation). We apply local demographic and health data and compare a 2030 mitigation and adaptation (M&A) scenario to a 2030 business-as-usual (BAU) scenario (without climate change response actions), each relative to 2018 pollution levels. We estimate that the 2030 BAU scenario results in an increase of PM2.5 air pollution of 4.13 µg m−3 from 2018 compared to a 0.11 µg m−3 decline from 2018 under the 2030 M&A scenario. Reduced PM2.5 air pollution under 2030 M&A results in 1216–1414 fewer premature all-cause deaths annually compared to 2030 BAU. Achievement of National Clean Air Programme, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or World Health Organization annual PM2.5 Air Quality Guideline targets in 2030 results in up to 6510, 9047, or 17 369 fewer annual deaths, respectively, relative to 2030 BAU. This comprehensive modeling method is adaptable to estimate local air quality and health co-benefits in other settings by integrating climate, energy, cooling, land cover, air pollution, and health data. Our findings demonstrate that city-level climate change response policies can achieve substantial air quality and health co-benefits. Such work can inform public discourse on the near-term health benefits of mitigation and adaptation.

The impacts of urban anthropogenic heat and surface albedo change on boundary layer meteorology and air pollutants in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

In this study, present and future anthropogenic heat flux (AH) and surface albedo (SA) in Beijing are estimated and incorporated into the WRF-Chem/UCM model. A series of nested model simulations are conducted at 9 km and 27 km horizontal grid resolution with 30 layers in the vertical to explore the sensitivity of model results to urban surface characteristics during the study period from 23 February to 13 March 2014, and the impacts of anthropogenic heat and surface albedo changes in the future on urban meteorology and air pollutants in Beijing. Model validation demonstrates that the model with the up-to-date urban surface parameters apparently improves predictions for both meteorological variables and chemical species compared with model results with default urban parameters. The combined effect of SA increase and AH decrease leads to consistent decreases in T2 (air temperature at 2 m above ground), WS10 (wind speed at 10 m) and PBLH (planetary boundary layer height) by up to 1.2 °C, 0.4 m s−1 and 200 m (33%), respectively, in Beijing averaged over the study period. In response to the meteorological changes, near surface PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic equivalent diameter below 2.5 μm) concentration increases by up to 15.6 μg m−3 (8.6%), whereas O3 concentration decreases by 2.6 ppb (25.1%), respectively. In daytime, near surface cooling due to SA increase and AH decrease causes a strong downdraft over Beijing urban areas, a wind divergence near the surface and an upslope wind over the western mountain, resulting in aerosol transport from urban district to western mountain slope. At nighttime, surface cooling is weaker than that in daytime, leading to a weaker downdraft over Beijing and a slight downslope wind in the mountain. The combined changes in SA and AH lead to a decrease in T2 by 1.2 °C, a decrease of O3 concentration by approximately 20%, and increases in PM2.5 and its components by 10–17% in daytime averaged over the urban areas of Beijing during the study period, and the above changes are weaker during haze days than those in clean days. The changes in urban surface parameters in Beijing in the future may be benefit for mitigating heat wave and O3 pollution risks, but could increase fine aerosol level and human health risk, which require an optimal strategy for co-benefits of climate change mitigation and air pollution control in future city planning.

Climate change mitigation scenario databases should incorporate more non-IAM pathways

Ajay Gambhir is a senior research fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. His research focuses on climate change mitigation, including integrated assessment modeling, national and sectoral energy modeling, and rural electrification. He also researches low-carbon technology innovation and cost-reduction processes, as well as just transitions and climate change mitigation co-benefits. Before becoming an academic, he was a UK government economist and policy analyst, during which time he worked on the UK Climate Change Act and the development of the UK’s carbon budgets. He holds a PhD in energy economics from Imperial College London. Gaurav Ganguly is the Chief Economist for Europe and the Middle East and the Head of the Climate Scenario Group at Moodys Analytics. He specializes in creating macroeconomic scenarios that explain the transmission of a range of risks such as climate change, geopolitics, deglobalization, and fiscal and monetary policy. He has been a fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London where he developed a framework for using climate scenarios within financial institutions. He holds a DPhil in economics from the University of Oxford. Shivika Mittal is a research fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, with eight years’ experience working on climate change mitigation. Her work focuses on assessing low-carbon pathways at global, regional, and national levels using integrated assessment models, as well as national and sectoral energy models. She was a contributing author on the low-carbon transport chapter of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report on mitigation of climate change. She holds a PhD in integrated assessment modeling from the Public Systems Group at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. Ajay Gambhir is a senior research fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. His research focuses on climate change mitigation, including integrated assessment modeling, national and sectoral energy modeling, and rural electrification. He also researches low-carbon technology innovation and cost-reduction processes, as well as just transitions and climate change mitigation co-benefits. Before becoming an academic, he was a UK government economist and policy analyst, during which time he worked on the UK Climate Change Act and the development of the UK’s carbon budgets. He holds a PhD in energy economics from Imperial College London. Gaurav Ganguly is the Chief Economist for Europe and the Middle East and the Head of the Climate Scenario Group at Moodys Analytics. He specializes in creating macroeconomic scenarios that explain the transmission of a range of risks such as climate change, geopolitics, deglobalization, and fiscal and monetary policy. He has been a fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London where he developed a framework for using climate scenarios within financial institutions. He holds a DPhil in economics from the University of Oxford. Shivika Mittal is a research fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, with eight years’ experience working on climate change mitigation. Her work focuses on assessing low-carbon pathways at global, regional, and national levels using integrated assessment models, as well as national and sectoral energy models. She was a contributing author on the low-carbon transport chapter of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report on mitigation of climate change. She holds a PhD in integrated assessment modeling from the Public Systems Group at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India.

10.E. Round table: Climate emergency, health and equity education: policy and practice recommendations for Europe

Abstract Climate change continues to be the biggest challenge of the 21st century, with profound and growing negative consequences on public health. While the public health and wider healthcare sector faces the health risks and consequences of climate change, it is also an important actor as producer of carbon footprint. There is therefore a need for public health and healthcare professionals to be prepared to address the climate emergency and its inequitable impacts across vulnerable populations. Climate resilience and climate-health-equity and political literacy should be built to enable public health and healthcare professionals to gain a deeper understanding of the needed changes and communicate the direct and indirect environmental impact of our health system, institutions and daily lives. This round table discussion will be framed by the joint statement “Moving towards the right to ‘health for all’ by training the public health workforce on climate change and health” issued by a network of public health stakeholders under the EU Health Policy Platform. Endorsed by more than 75 organisations from the global, European and national level, the statement calls actors in public health to bring climate change and health concerns to the forefront of the debates. During the round table, 4 panellists will touch on evidence, solutions and guidance to address the climate emergency from the different perspectives of ASPHER, EuroHealthNet, Ecorys and EHESP French School of Public Health. The added value of the round table is conveying the different views of the panellists, bringing together European CSOs and partnerships of public health authorities, academia and a research-based consultancy company, and laying out possible ways of how working together could steer the EU and national multidisciplinary policy and decision-making on the intersection of climate, health, social justice, and education. After setting the need for action, the round table will seek to produce recommendations from public health actors to address the climate emergency, bringing the dialogue parallel to COP27. This workshop will explore how different actors from inside and outside the public health domain can contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation actions. The discussion will cover: investing in climate-health training for public health and healthcare professionals; investing in public health research; designing and monitoring mitigation programmes (e.g., sustainable and resilience-enhancing healthcare policies); building climate-health-equity literacy; and providing space for dialogue for those communities who will be most harmed by an inadequate public health response. From a policy perspective, the workshop will help prepare recommendations for actions related to COP27 and will reflect on strategic processes taking place at the European level (including the Conference on the Future of Europe, the European Health Union, the Strategic Foresight, and the Recovery and Resilience Plans). Key messages • Climate change poses an immediate threat to planetary health, and the co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions to health and social justice should be highlighted in policies. • The workshop provides public health actors the opportunity to produce recommended actions from public health actors to address the climate emergency at the European and national level. Speakers/Panellists Tara Chen ASPHER, Brussels, Belgium Dorota Sienkiewicz EuroHealthNet, Brussels, Belgium Daniek Korver Ecorys NL, Rotterdam, Netherlands Laurent Chambaud École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, Rennes, France

Assessing the impacts of agricultural managements on soil carbon stocks, nitrogen loss, and crop production – a modelling study in eastern Africa

Abstract. Improved agricultural management plays a vital role in protecting soils from degradation in eastern Africa. Changing practices such as reducing tillage, fertilizer use, or cover crops are expected to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, with climate change mitigation co-benefits, while increasing crop production. However, the quantification of cropland management effects on agricultural ecosystems remains inadequate in this region. Here, we explored seven management practices and their potential effects on soil carbon (C) pools, nitrogen (N) losses, and crop yields under different climate scenarios, using the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS. The model performance is evaluated against observations from two long-term maize field trials in western Kenya and reported estimates from published sources. LPJ-GUESS generally produces soil C stocks and maize productivity comparable with measurements and mostly captures the SOC decline under some management practices that is observed in the field experiments. We found that for large parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, an integrated conservation agriculture practice (no-tillage, residue and manure application, and cover crops) increases SOC levels in the long term (+11 % on average), accompanied by increased crop yields (+22 %) in comparison to the conventional management. Planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops in our simulations is also identified as a promising individual practice in eastern Africa to increase soil C storage (+4 %) and crop production (+18 %), with low environmental cost of N losses (+24 %). These management impacts are also sustained in simulations of three future climate pathways. This study highlights the possibilities of conservation agriculture when targeting long-term environmental sustainability and food security in crop ecosystems, particularly for those with poor soil conditions in tropical climates.

Health co-benefits of climate change mitigation depend on strategic power plant retirements and pollution controls

Health co-benefits of climate change mitigation depend on strategic power plant retirements and pollution controls

615 Achieving Net Zero Emission by 2050 – The Medical Education Route

IntroductionThere is growing demand to reduce the environmental impact of surgery. Healthcare sustainability has recently become a mandatory GMC learning outcome for undergraduates, but expertise amongst faculty and time within the curriculum are limited. We piloted an E-module that uses surgical case studies to teach these concepts.MethodEvidenced-based multi-media learning principles were used to develop the module. 3rd and 4th year students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School were invited to partake and complete pre- and post-module questionnaires comprising 5-point Likert scales and white-space questions. The primary outcome measures were changes in student-reported understanding of four key concepts:Environmental impact of healthcareInfluence of climate change on health.Principles of sustainable clinical practice.Health co-benefits of climate change mitigation.Results33 students completed the E-module. Questionnaire results indicated a significant increase in understanding of all key concepts (p < 0.001). Students most commonly rated improving sustainability of healthcare as ‘extremely important’. Common themes within white space responses included the importance of preventative medicine and that the module was informative, interactive, user-friendly, and engaging. The majority (81%) strongly agreed that all undergraduates should undertake this module.ConclusionsThis E-module is an effective and COVID-19-safe resource. Adapting this module for postgraduate surgical education should be explored.

Soil organic carbon accumulation rates on Mediterranean abandoned agricultural lands

Secondary succession on abandoned agricultural lands can produce climate change mitigation co-benefits, such as soil carbon sequestration. However, the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in Mediterranean regions has been difficult to predict and is subject to multiple environmental and land management factors. Gains, losses, and no significant changes have all been reported. Here we compile chronosequence data (n = 113) from published studies and new field sites to assess the response of SOC to agricultural land abandonment in peninsular Spain. We found an overall SOC accumulation rate of +2.3% yr−1 post-abandonment. SOC dynamics are highly variable and context-dependent. Minimal change occurs on abandoned cereal croplands compared to abandoned woody croplands (+4% yr−1). Accumulation is most prevalent within a Goldilocks climatic window of ~13–17 °C and ~450–900 mm precipitation, promoting >100% gains after three decades. Our secondary forest field sites accrued 40.8 Mg C ha−1 (+172%) following abandonment and displayed greater SOC and N depth heterogeneity than natural forests demonstrating the long-lasting impact of agriculture. Although changes in regional climate and crop types abandoned will impact future carbon sequestration, abandonment remains a low-cost, long-term natural climate solution best incorporated in tandem with other multipurpose sustainable land management strategies.

Spatial and Ecological Farmer Knowledge and Decision-Making about Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity

Amid climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity, there is the growing need to draw synergies between micro-scale environmental processes and practices, and macro-level ecosystem dynamics to facilitate conservation decision-making. Adopting this synergistic approach can improve crop yields and profitability more sustainably, enhance livelihoods and mitigate climate change. Using spatially explicit data generated through a public participatory geographic information system methodology (n = 37), complemented by spatial analysis, interviews (n = 68) and focus group discussions (n = 4), we explored the synergies between participatory farmer-to-farmer agroecology knowledge sharing, farm-level decisions and their links with macro-level prioritization of conservation strategies. We mapped farm conditions and ecosystem services (ES) of two village areas with varying knowledge systems about farming. Results of the farm-level analysis revealed variations in spatial perception among farmers, differences in understanding the dynamics of crop growth and varying priorities for extension services based on agroecological knowledge. The ES use pattern analysis revealed hotspots in the mapped ES indicators with similarities in both village areas. Despite the similarities in ES use, priorities for biodiversity conservation align with farmers’ understanding of farm processes and practices. Farmers with training in agroecology prioritized strategies that are ecologically friendly while farmers with no agroecology training prioritized the use of strict regulations. Importantly, the results show that agroecology can potentially contribute to biodiversity conservation and food security, with climate change mitigation co-benefits. The findings generally contribute to debates on land sparing and land sharing conservation strategies and advance social learning theory as it pertains to acquiring agroecological knowledge for improved yield and a sustainable environment.

Co-Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation for Public Transport in Different Cities of Vietnam

Potentiality of co-benefits for public transport at cities of different grades in Vietnam namely Ho Chi Minh city (special city), Da Nang (centrally-run grade I city) and Vinh (grade I city under the province) in 2013 was studied. Taxis in Da Nang and Vinh, and buses in Ho Chi Minh City were selected for the study. A same methodology was used for all cities. In each city, three areas and nine routes in inner city were selected for conducting this study. Information on the technical conditions of vehicles was collected by questionnaires. Traffic volume was determined by vehicle counting. The real–world driving data of vehicles were recorded by GPS technology. All collected data were processed to generate input files to run IVE model associated with base state and three proposed scenarios of climate change mitigation. Emission factors (EF) of air pollutants for these transport means were determined. Co-benefits of climate, air quality and health for the scenarios in three cities were assessed. The obtained results in this study can be used as a scientific basis for integrated air quality management in the cities in general and for air pollution control of public transport in particular.&#x0D; co-benefits, public transport, emission factor, IVE model, Vietnam.

Assessing health co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the Asia-Pacific region

S09: Assessing health co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the Asia-Pacific region, Room 417, Floor 4, August 26, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Fossil fuel combustion by-products (PM2.5, NO2, PAH and CO2) are a significant threat to population health and well-being. Policies to reduce carbon emissions can reduce air pollution and mitigate climate change, with substantial health and economic benefits. However, the evidence on the co-benefits of climate mitigation is scarce in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) even though the largest amount of emissions worldwide come from this region. Climate change mitigation is likely to reduce air-pollution-related mortality. As an example, the evidence suggests that climate change contributes 14% of the overall increase in ozone mortality estimated for RCP8.5 in 2100 relative to 2000, and the effect on ozone mortality in 2100 is greater in East Asia than other regions. It is estimated that air pollution reduction through climate change mitigation under the 2 °C goal could reduce premature deaths in Asia by 0.79 million (95% CI: 0.75–1.8 million) by 2050. This co-benefit is equivalent to a life value savings of approximately $2.8 trillion (6% of the GDP), which is decidedly more than the climate mitigation cost ($840 billion, 2% of GDP). The health co-benefits of climate mitigation significantly outweigh its costs. The assessment of health benefits of climate mitigation will provide an important incentive for government policies and immediate action but little resources are available in low-income countries of APR. This presentation will explore effective strategies to address this issue.

Benefits and Co-benefits to Children’s Health of Mitigating Climate Change

S19: Climate Change and Child Health: Current Research, Future Opportunities, and Gaps in Knowledge, Room 417, Floor 4, August 28, 2019, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Fossil fuel combustion by-products are affecting children’s health and future and contributing to growing inequality. The emissions include toxic air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) -- as well as carbon dioxide (CO2), the major human-produced greenhouse gas. The developing fetus and young child are disproportionately affected because of their immature defense mechanisms and rapid development, especially those in low income populations where poverty and lack of resources compound the effects. Impacts include impairment of cognitive and behavioral development, respiratory illness, and other chronic diseases—all of which may be “seeded” in utero and affect health and functioning immediately and over the life course. Synergies between air pollution and climate change magnify the harm to children. Policies to mitigate climate change by reducing fossil fuel emissions have had sizeable estimated health and economic co-benefits. However, in most such assessments only a few adverse outcomes in children have been considered, resulting in an undercounting of the benefits to this vulnerable population. Expansion of programs to assess health and economic impacts of mitigation policies, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency BenMAP, to include preterm birth (PTB), low birthweight (LBW), autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), IQ reduction, and the development of childhood asthma, will provide a fuller picture of the co-benefits of climate change mitigation. Endpoints having a “causal or likely” relationship (PTB, LBW, autism, asthma development) with the pollutants can be incorporated into primary analyses; endpoints having a “suggestive” causal relationship with the pollutants (IQ reduction, ADHD) can be included in secondary analyses. A case study of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeastern US will illustrate the potential of such expanded assessments of the benefits of climate mitigation policies to inform and incentivize further policies to address climate change.

Reduction of air pollution-related deaths associated with climate change mitigation in Sydney, Australia

S09: Assessing health co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the Asia-Pacific region, Room 417, Floor 4, August 26, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Increasing population growth and energy demands are leading to increasing carbon dioxide emissions, a major greenhouse gas. Climate change will have environmental, health and economic effects. The next five to ten years are the critical years for action on climate change. Effective policies at the local, national and international levels to combat global warming will determine our climate future and our health. It has been suggested that “tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”. Fossil fuel combustion from the power, transportation and industrial sectors are the major emitters of carbon dioxide. Fossil fuel combustion from these same sectors are also the major contributors to ambient air pollution (for example, particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen), some of which are also short-lived climate pollutants. Mitigating climate change will therefore also improve air quality with consequent health benefits. It is estimated that air pollution reduction through climate change mitigation under the 2°C goal will reduce premature deaths by about 2.4 million annually. It is important that we are able to quantify the co-benefits to air quality (and consequently to health) of climate change mitigation policies. Quantification of health benefits due to reduction in air pollution is particularly important as it can be achieved in the short-term and hence will have a greater impact on decision making. This presentation will quantify air pollution-related deaths in Sydney, Australia, associated with different climate change mitigation scenarios.

Co-benefits of climate mitigation on air quality and human health in Asian countries

Climate change mitigation involves reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, which is expensive, particularly under stringent mitigation targets. The co-benefits of reducing air pollutants and improving human health are often ignored, but can play significant roles in decision-making. In this study, we quantified the co-benefits of climate change mitigation on ambient air quality and human health in both physical and monetary terms with a particular focus on Asia, where air quality will likely be degraded in the next few decades if mitigation measures are not undertaken. We used an integrated assessment framework that incorporated economic, air chemistry transport, and health assessment models. Air pollution reduction through climate change mitigation under the 2 °C goal could reduce premature deaths in Asia by 0.79 million (95% confidence interval: 0.75–1.8 million) by 2050. This co-benefit is equivalent to a life value savings of approximately 2.8 trillion United States dollars (USD) (6% of the gross domestic product [GDP]), which is decidedly more than the climate mitigation cost (840 billion USD, 2% of GDP). At the national level, India has the highest potential net benefit of 1.4 trillion USD, followed by China (330 billion USD) and Japan (68 billion USD). Furthermore, in most Asian countries, per capita GDP gain and life value savings would increase with per capita GDP increasing. We robustly confirmed this qualitative conclusion under several socioeconomic and exposure-response function assumptions.

Evaluating Health Co-Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation in Urban Mobility.

There is growing recognition that implementation of low-carbon policies in urban passenger transport has near-term health co-benefits through increased physical activity and improved air quality. Nevertheless, co-benefits and related cost reductions are often not taken into account in decision processes, likely because they are not easy to capture. In an interdisciplinary multi-model approach we address this gap, investigating the co-benefits resulting from increased physical activity and improved air quality due to climate mitigation policies for three urban areas. Additionally we take a (macro-)economic perspective, since that is the ultimate interest of policy-makers. Methodologically, we link a transport modelling tool, a transport emission model, an emission dispersion model, a health model and a macroeconomic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze three climate change mitigation scenarios. We show that higher levels of physical exercise and reduced exposure to pollutants due to mitigation measures substantially decrease morbidity and mortality. Expenditures are mainly born by the public sector but are mostly offset by the emerging co-benefits. Our macroeconomic results indicate a strong positive welfare effect, yet with slightly negative GDP and employment effects. We conclude that considering economic co-benefits of climate change mitigation policies in urban mobility can be put forward as a forceful argument for policy makers to take action.

Water Quality Management and Climate Change Mitigation: Cost-effectiveness of Joint Implementation in the Baltic Sea Region

This paper explores the scope for simultaneously managing nutrient abatement and climate change mitigation in the Baltic Sea (BS) region through the implementation of a selection of measures. The analysis is undertaken using a cost-minimisation model for the entire BS region, the BALTCOST model. In the present research, the model has been extended to include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions effects, enabling us to analyse the trade-offs between cost-effective GHG and nutrient load reductions. We run the model for four different scenarios in order to compare the environmental and economic consequences of contrasting strategies: single environmental objective management versus joint implementation strategy. The results show that implementing land-based measures with a sole focus on water quality (to meet the HELCOM's 2013 Baltic Sea Action Plan nutrient abatement targets) can produce climate change mitigation co-benefits equivalent to 2.3% of the 2005 emission level (from agriculture and waste water combined) for the entirety of the BS region. More interestingly, a joint implementation strategy can deliver further climate change mitigation benefit (i.e. up to 5.4%) at a marginal cost that is comparable to mitigation costs reported by other studies for efficient technologies. All in all the results demonstrate that a joint strategy to improve water quality and to reduce climate change is economically beneficial. Our findings show that the cost and the outcome of the implementation vary between countries. This illustrates the need to develop a joint regional policy for water and climate regulation that fully considers the asymmetry in both the expected effects and cost distribution across the countries in the region.

Governance and networks for health co-benefits of climate change mitigation: Lessons from two Indian cities

Health has been the main driver for many urban environmental interventions, particularly in cases of significant health problems linked to poor urban environmental conditions. This paper examines empirically the links between climate change mitigation and health in urban areas, when health is the main driver for improvements. The paper aims to understand how systems of urban governance can enable or prevent the creation of health outcomes via continuous improvements in the environmental conditions in a city. The research draws on cases from two Indian cities where initiatives were undertaken in different sectors: Surat (waste) and Delhi (transportation). Using the literature on network effectiveness as an analytical framework, the paper compares the cases to identify the possible ways to strengthen the governance and policy making process in the urban system so that each intervention can intentionally realize multiple impacts for both local health and climate change mitigation in the long term as well as factors that may pose a threat to long-term progress and revert back to the previous situation after initial achievements.

Review on occupational health co-benefits of climate change mitigation

Introduction: A common objection to a ‘green’ economy is the risk of a significant job loss, but the costs-benefits in terms of both number of occupational diseases and deaths preventable and creation of new ‘green’ jobs are not yet documented. Methods: We reviewed the literature to assess the number of deaths and diseases attributable to coal-related jobs as an indicator of energy producing and heavy energy-using industries, as well as the potential gain in ‘green’ jobs (i.e., light energy-using industries, and some that provide alternative sources of energy-generation, and result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions). Results: The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study has estimated that, in 2013, coal mining related pneumoconiosis disease caused a loss of 600,200 (447,600 to 838,600) disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and a reduction in healthy life expectancy (HALE) of 9.2 (6.9 to 12·8) years (GBD 2013 Risk Factors Collaborators, 2015). Moreover, in China alone, the government has estimated that some 4,700 workplace-related deaths occur annually in the coal mining industry (United Nations World Investment Report, 2007). These documented adverse health effects of fossil fuel extraction could be largely eliminated by a switchover in energy consumption from coal to non-fossil fuel sources. In addition, the U.S. Clean Power Plan, which will reduce coal burning for electricity and replace it with other less polluting energy options, has been estimated to cause a net gain of 74,000 jobs in 2020, and an additional 196,000 to 273,000 jobs between 2025 and 2040 (Illinois Environmental Council, 2015). These results represent a 0.1-0.2 percent net increase in the U.S. civilian employment. Conclusions: Our review shows that avoiding the extraction of coal could potentially save thousands of lives and significantly reduce coal mining associated DALYs losses worldwide. In addition, more ‘green’ jobs would be gained than ‘dirty’ jobs lost.

Measuring marginal willingness to pay using conjoint analysis and developing benefit transfer functions in various Asian cities

ABSTRACTWe need a consistent methodology to measure the co-benefits of climate change mitigation across Asian countries. This study chose a strategy of modifying the Japan-specific life-cycle impact assessment method based on endpoint modeling (LIME) for wider application across countries. LIME has two dimensions. First, it is an environmental science that links the cause-and-effect chain. Second, it is an environmental valuation that weighs four endpoint damages in monetary terms through a conjoint analysis that is derived from an Internet-based questionnaire survey. This article describes the modification of the methodology for application of the conjoint analysis to weigh environmental impacts. We approached the investigation as follows. First, we conducted Internet surveys to measure marginal willingness-to-pay (MWTP). We used a sample of 112 respondents in their 20 s to 40 s, divided equally between men and women, in 11 cities across China, India, and Southeast Asia. The results obtained showed clear statistical significance and were comparable across the cities. Second, we attempted to develop functions (called benefit transfer functions) to simplify the measured MWTP in order to apply it across different Asian countries. The functions were derived through a stepwise meta-analytic method, a type of multiple regression analysis whose independent variable was MWTP and dependent variables were attributes of both respondents and surveyed cities. The functions showed that coal consumption and percentage of nature reserve were dependent variables. Then, the MWTPs estimated from the functions were compared with the measured MWTP for transfer error, which is calculated by the absolute value of the difference between the estimated value and the measured value divided by the latter. The transfer error was below 50% in about 90% of the 44 results (a combination of four endpoints and 11 cities), implying that the developed functions were statistically significant.