Environmental Co-benefits Research Articles

Interventions to reduce low-value care in intensive care settings: a scoping review of impacts on health, resource use, costs, and the environment.

Low-value care is common in intensive care units (ICUs), unnecessarilyexposing patients to risks and harms, incuring costs to the patient and healthcare system, and contributing to healthcare's carbon footprint. We aimed to identify, collate, and summarise published evidence on the impact of interventions to reduce low-value care in ICUs. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to 22 September 2023 for evaluations of interventions aiming to reduce low-value care, supplemented by reference lists and recently published articles. We recorded impacts on the low-value target,health outcomes, resource use, cost, and the environment. From 1155 studies screened, 32 eligible studies were identified evaluating interventions toreduce: routine blood testing (n = 13), routine chest X-rays (n = 10), and other types (or multiple types) of low-value care (n = 9). All but 3 of the interventions found reductions in the immediate low-value care target (usually the primary outcome). Although the small sample size ofmost included studies, limited their ability to detect impactson other outcomes, manyinterventions were alsoassociated with improved health outcomes and financial savings. The only study that reported environmental impacts found the intervention was associated with reduced carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) emissions. Interventions to reduce low-value care in ICUs may have important health, financial, and environmental co-benefits. Further research may inform wider scale-up and sustainability of successful strategies to decrease low-value healthcare. More empirical evidence on potential environmental benefits may inform policies to lower healthcare's carbon footprint.

Early-stage soil organic carbon stabilization in conservation agriculture-based cereal systems

In South Asia, the sustainability of conventional tillage and input-intensive cereal-based cropping systems (such as rice-rice and rice-wheat) is under scrutiny due to soil organic carbon depletion, stagnant productivity, and adverse environmental impacts stemming from greenhouse gas emissions (N2O, CH4, and CO2). Against this backdrop, a long-term field experiment was initiated in 2009 at three sites in India (Karnal, Patna, and Aduthurai) and one site in Bangladesh (Gazipur) to assess four scenarios (S) reflecting current and future diversified crop rotations and conservation agriculture (CA) practices: S1 - double cereal rotation with conventional practices; S2 - double cereal plus legume rotation with partial CA; S3 - double cereal plus legume rotation with full CA; and S4 - futuristic diversified cereal-legume rotations with full CA. This study delved into the dynamics and stabilization of soil organic carbon across all scenarios and sites. Replicated soil samples were collected from depths of 0–15 cm and 15–30 cm after two crop cycles. We analyzed Walkley-Black carbon (WBC), total organic carbon (TOC), and various carbon pools with different oxidizability, determining the amount of carbon stabilized under CA-based scenarios and identifying optimal systems for carbon economy in South Asia. On average, active and passive carbon pools, TOC, and WBC stocks followed the order: S4 > S3 > S2 > S1 at all sites, except Gazipur, where the order was S3 > S4 > S2 > S1. CA practices stabilized applied carbon inputs to soil organic carbon at an annual rate of 1.7 %, with greater stabilization observed under S4 (11.7 %) > S3 (10.6 %) > S2 (7.8 %), regardless of location. Rice-rice sites exhibited a higher carbon stabilization rate (13.4 %) compared to rice-wheat sites (6.7 %). A significant proportion of stabilized carbon (63 %) was allocated to passive pools in soils under S2, S3, and S4, highlighting CA's potential to enhance carbon stability. Using a linear indexing technique, we identified that both S3 and S4 are conducive to better carbon stabilization, yield sustainability, and environmental co-benefits. Consequently, full CA systems with best management practices (S3) and best management practices with crop diversification (S4) are recommended for sustainable crop production in the major double cereal growing regions of South Asia, including India and Bangladesh.

Emission characterisation of motorcycles and the potential of co-benefits from selected development scenarios in the urban ecosystem of Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract Motorcycles are the largest proportion of transport in Hanoi. This study focuses on the emission characteristics and initially evaluates the potential co-benefits of low emission zones (LEZ) applied to motorcycles in Hanoi. The International Vehicle Emissions (IVE) model was designed by the U.S. EPA to calculate emissions from motor vehicles and was used to find the emission factor, the important index for emission characteristics of motorcycle activities, in Hanoi. This study surveyed motorcycle technologies and activities in Hanoi with questionnaires, collected data from GPS devices, and counted traffic flow through video cameras and collaborators teams from 2021 to 2023. EFs for the typical pollutants and GHGs of motorcycles in Hanoi were determined. During running, EFruning is 0.053g/km with PM, 4.8 g/km for CO, 0.006 g/km for SO2, 0.13 g/km NOx, CO2 is 72.55 g/km and CH4 is 0.24 g/km, respectively. When starting, EFstart-up is 0.12 g/time with PM, CO is 12.24 g/time, SO2 is 0.0007 g/time, NOx is 1.05 g/time, CO2 is 6.96 g/time, CH4 is 0.53 g/time and N2O is 0.0009 g/time, respectively. Using the EMISENS model, inventory emissions were calculated at tier 3 for this source via the Bottom-up approach. The EMISENS model calculates emissions resulting from traffic, developed by Bang Ho et al in 2010 uses input data related to traffic activities and three emission factors found from the IVE model to calculate the emissions. The total emissions from motorcycle operations in Hanoi are approximately 5.3 thousand tons of PM and 4.6 million tons of CO2e. The proposed LEZ solution for motorcycles brings climate co-benefits of reducing 1.62 million tons CO2e in scenario 1 - limiting all day and 563.2 thousand tons CO2e in scenario 2 – limit operations from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in 2025. Co-benefits on the environment corresponding to the two scenarios with PM are 1990 and 692 tons. Reducing motorcycle operations during 5 peak hours at LEZ can reduce total emissions from motorcycles in Hanoi by 12%. Meanwhile, the proposed 24-hour LEZ for motorcycles in the area has the potential to reduce GHGs by 35%. These results show that reducing emissions from motorcycles brings climate and environmental co-benefits.

Mapping the Environmental Co-Benefits of Reducing Low-Value Care: A Scoping Review and Bibliometric Analysis.

Reducing low-value care (LVC) and improving healthcare's climate readiness are critical factors for improving the sustainability of health systems. Care practices that have been deemed low or no-value generate carbon emissions, waste and pollution without improving patient or population health. There is nascent, but growing, research and evaluation to inform practice change focused on the environmental co-benefits of reducing LVC. The objective of this study was to develop foundational knowledge of this field through a scoping review and bibliometric analysis. We searched four databases, Medline, Embase, Scopus and CINAHL, and followed established scoping review and bibliometric analysis methodology to collect and analyze the data. A total of 145 publications met the inclusion criteria and were published between 2013 and July 2023, with over 80% published since 2020. Empirical studies comprised 21%, while commentary or opinions comprised 51% of publications. The majority focused on healthcare generally (27%), laboratory testing (14%), and medications (14%). Empirical publications covered a broad range of environmental issues with general and practice-specific 'Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions', 'waste management' and 'resource use' as most common topics. Reducing practice-specific 'GHG emissions' was the most commonly reported environmental outcome. The bibliometric analysis revealed nine international collaboration networks producing work on eight key healthcare areas. The nineteen 'top' authors were primarily from the US, Australia and Canada.

Author Correction: Transboundary cooperation in infrastructure operation generates economic and environmental co-benefits in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin

Author Correction: Transboundary cooperation in infrastructure operation generates economic and environmental co-benefits in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin

Transboundary cooperation in infrastructure operation generates economic and environmental co-benefits in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin

Transboundary cooperation in infrastructure operation generates economic and environmental co-benefits in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin

Coping with the concurrent heatwaves and ozone extremes in China under a warming climate

Intensive human activity has brought about unprecedented climate and environmental crises, in which concurrent heatwaves and ozone extremes pose the most serious threats. However, a limited understanding of the comprehensive mechanism hinders our ability to mitigate such compound events, especially in densely populated regions like China. Here, based on field observations and climate-chemistry coupled modelling, we elucidate the linkage between human activities and the climate system in heat-related ozone pollution. In China, we have observed that both the frequency and intensity of heatwaves have almost tripled since the beginning of this century. Moreover, these heatwaves are becoming more common in urban clusters with serious ozone pollution. Persistent heatwaves during the extremely hot and dry summers of 2013 and 2022 accelerated photochemical ozone production by boosting anthropogenic and biogenic emissions, and aggravated ozone accumulation by suppressing dry deposition due to water-stressed vegetation, leading to a more than 30% increase in ozone pollution in China’s urban areas. The sensitivity of ozone to heat is demonstrated to be substantially modulated by anthropogenic emissions, and China’s clean air policy may have altered the relationship between ozone and temperature. Climate model projections further highlight that the high-emission climate-socioeconomic scenario tends to intensify the concurrent heat and ozone extremes in the next century. Our results underscore that the implementation of a strict emission strategy will significantly reduce the co-occurrence of heatwaves and ozone extremes, achieving climate and environmental co-benefits.

Expectations on biochar as a climate solution in Sweden: Carbon dioxide removal with environmental co-benefits

While carbon dioxide removal is indispensable in net-zero climate policy, incentives to deploy removals are limited. Swedish public support to biochar is one exception. This paper draws on the Swedish case to explore expectations put on biochar and the significance of public support for fulfilling these expectations. The analysis shows that biochar is expected to contribute to several environmental objectives. However, while biochar producers and users voice expectations on strengthening the multifunctionality of landscapes, e.g., improved ecosystem resilience and reduced nutrient run-off, the authorities rather narrowly direct attention to the stability of biochar as a carbon storage. Nevertheless, public support is contributing to a small but important protective space for biochar development through three channels: First, through investment grants, which are crucial for the emerging Swedish biochar production capacity. Second, through demand-pull created by municipalities that specify high environmental safeguards, which favours domestic production over import. Third, indirectly through support of production facilities that enable intermediary activities for gathering and sharing knowledge. However, while recent changes to EU state aid regulation may be a game-changer, EU has until now acted as a barrier to support to carbon dioxide removal. This socio-technical regime resistance, combined with a lack of jointly articulated expectations on biochar, appear to have been preventing deployment on more significant scale.

Environmental co-benefits of climate mitigation: Evidence from clean development mechanism projects in China

The carbon reduction effects of climate mitigation have received much attention, but less attention has been paid to the co-benefits of climate mitigation such as air pollution reduction and related health impacts. This oversight may have led to an underestimation of the broader welfare effects of climate mitigation and thus hindering its progress in implementation. This paper investigates the co-benefits of climate mitigation through focusing on the pollution reduction effects of the implementation of the clean development mechanism (CDM), which is an important climate mitigation mechanism to enhance north-south climate cooperation. Using a unique firm-level dataset with data on China's CDM projects from 1998 to 2012, we show that the CDM implementation reduced sulfur dioxide emissions. Mechanism analyses show that the CDM implementation alleviated firms' financing constraints and promoted fossil energy savings, thereby reducing emissions of air pollutants that usually coexist with greenhouse gases in burning fossil fuels. We also find that the CDM didn't bring about the expected technological progress. These results highlight environmental co-benefits of climate mitigation and provide important implications for international climate cooperation

Multi-year analysis of physical interactions between solar PV arrays and underlying soil-plant complex in vegetated utility-scale systems

Concerns over the land use changes impacts of solar photovoltaic (PV) development are increasing as PV energy development expands. Co-locating utility-scale solar energy with vegetation may maintain or rehabilitate the land's ability to provide ecosystem services. Previous studies have shown that vegetation under and around the panels may improve the performance of the co-located PV and that PV may create a favorable environment for the growth of vegetation. While there have been some pilot-scale experiments, the existence and magnitude of these benefits of vegetation has not been confirmed in a utility-scale PV facility over multiple years. In this study we use power output data coupled with microclimatic measurements in temperate climates to assess these potential benefits. This study combines multi-year microclimatic measurements to analyze the physical interactions between PV arrays and the underlying soil-vegetation system in three utility-scale PV facilities in Minnesota, USA. No significant cooling of PV panels or increased power production was observed in PV arrays with underlying vegetation. Fine soil particle fraction was the highest in soils within PV arrays with the vegetation which was attributable to the lowest wind speeds from the compounding suppression of wind by vegetation and PV arrays. Soil moisture and soil nutrient response to re-vegetation varied between PV facilities, which could be attributed to differing soil texture. No statistically significant vegetation-driven panel cooling was observed in this climate. This finding prompts a need for site-specific studies to identify contributing factors for environmental co-benefits in co-located systems.

The potential of urban irrigation for counteracting carbon-climate feedback

Global climate changes, especially the rise of global mean temperature due to the increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, can, in turn, result in higher anthropogenic and biogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This potentially leads to a positive loop of climate–carbon feedback in the Earth’s climate system, which calls for sustainable environmental strategies that can mitigate both heat and carbon emissions, such as urban greening. In this study, we investigate the impact of urban irrigation over green spaces on ambient temperatures and CO2 exchange across major cities in the contiguous United States. Our modeling results indicate that the carbon release from urban ecosystem respiration is reduced by evaporative cooling in humid climate, but promoted in arid/semi-arid regions due to increased soil moisture. The irrigation-induced environmental co-benefit in heat and carbon mitigation is, in general, positively correlated with urban greening fraction and has the potential to help counteract climate–carbon feedback in the built environment.

Acting pre-emptively reduces the long-term costs of managing herbicide resistance

Globally, pesticides improve crop yields but at great environmental cost, and their overuse has caused resistance. This incurs large financial and production losses but, despite this, very diversified farm management that might delay or prevent resistance is uncommon in intensive farming. We asked farmers to design more diversified cropping strategies aimed at controlling herbicide resistance, and estimated resulting weed densities, profits, and yields compared to prevailing practice. Where resistance is low, it is financially viable to diversify pre-emptively; however, once resistance is high, there are financial and production disincentives to adopting diverse rotations. It is therefore as important to manage resistance before it becomes widespread as it is to control it once present. The diverse rotations targeting high resistance used increased herbicide application frequency and volume, contributing to these rotations’ lack of financial viability, and raising concerns about glyphosate resistance. Governments should encourage adoption of diverse rotations in areas without resistance. Where resistance is present, governments may wish to incentivise crop diversification despite the drop in wheat production as it is likely to bring environmental co-benefits. Our research suggests we need long-term, proactive, food security planning and more integrated policy-making across farming, environment, and health arenas.

The impact of digital infrastructure construction on carbon emission efficiency: Considering the role of central cities

This paper delineates the impact of digital infrastructure construction (DIC) on carbon emission efficiency (CEE) within the ambit of China's "Broadband China" pilot policy (BCP). A quasi-natural experimental framework reveals direct effects, indirect influences, non-linear relationships, and spatial heterogeneity of DIC on CEE. The research distills several pivotal insights: (1) DIC exerts a markedly positive impact on CEE, as evidenced by comprehensive robustness analyses. (2) The digital service industry agglomeration and green technology innovation act as key mechanisms through which DIC influences CEE. (3) The intensity of BCP exhibits an "inverted U-shaped" relationship with CEE. As the level of CEE increases, the impact of DIC on CEE gradually rises, demonstrating a marginal increasing effect. (4) The spatial spillover effects of DIC on CEE vary with increasing distance, revealing a dichotomy: an "agglomeration shadow" within 200 km of policy pilot cities and a pronounced stimulative effect on CEE within a 200–300 km radius. (5) The efficacy of DIC in enhancing CEE is augmented by proximity to central cities, with the optimal radius of influence for central cities determined to be 200 km, beyond which a diminishing gradient effect is observed, forming a "core-peripheral" spatial pattern. The findings endorse the strategic augmentation of digital infrastructure as a lever for economic and environmental co-benefits, steering towards carbon neutrality and equitable regional development.

The Role of Renewable Energies for Sustainable Energy Governance and Environmental Policies for the Mitigation of Climate Change in Nigeria

In response to the escalating global challenges posed by climate change, this research investigates the role of renewable energies in shaping sustainable energy governance and environmental policies for climate change mitigation in Nigeria. The study underscores the pivotal relationship between renewable energies and governance structures, emphasizing the need for innovative policy approaches. In Nigeria, a country grappling with a surge in energy demand, particularly in densely populated urban areas, this research delves into the current state of renewable energy adoption, technological aspects, and the policy and regulatory frameworks governing its integration. The study scrutinizes the technological aspects of solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass energy in Nigeria, exploring advancements in solar photovoltaic, hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal technologies. Additionally, it dissects the nation's policy landscape, assessing key initiatives such as the National Energy Policy, the National Policy and Guidelines on Renewable Electricity, and Feed-in Tariffs. Furthermore, the research examines the alignment of environmental policies with renewable energy goals, highlighting the importance of targets, incentives, and regulatory frameworks. It also scrutinizes incentives for sustainable practices in Nigeria, including investment tax credits, the Renewable Energy Development Fund, and concessional import duty rates for renewable equipment. The study assesses the impact of renewable energy initiatives in Nigeria, gauging investment trends, ongoing projects, and the effectiveness of policy frameworks. It also delves into the economic, social, and environmental co-benefits of renewable energy projects, emphasizing their role in job creation, investment attraction, and reduction in energy costs. Finally, the research evaluates the effectiveness of renewable energy initiatives in reducing the nation's carbon footprint and fostering environmental sustainability. It highlights progress in achieving climate change mitigation goals through increased renewable energy capacity, policy frameworks, and off-grid electrification initiatives.

Environmental co-benefits of health policies to reduce meat consumption: A narrative review

Global meat consumption has risen steadily in recent decades, with heterogeneous growth rates across regions. While meat plays a critical role in providing essential nutrients for human health, excessive consumption of meat, particularly red and processed meat, has also been associated with a higher risk of certain chronic diseases. This has led public authorities, including the World Health Organization, to call for a reduction in meat consumption. How governments can effectively reduce the health costs of meat consumption remains a challenge as implementing effective policy instruments is complex. This paper examines health-related policy instruments and potential economic mechanisms that could reduce meat consumption. Health-related taxation could be the most effective instrument. Other policy instruments, such as informational and behavioral instruments, along with regulations, could discourage meat consumption depending on the policy design. We also provide evidence on the link between meat consumption and the environment, including climate, biodiversity, water use, and pollution. Promoting healthy behaviors by reducing meat consumption can then have environmental co-benefits and promote broader sustainable development goals. We also discuss the policy-related challenges that need to be addressed to meet environmental co-benefits.

Identifying the Social, Urban, and Environmental Co-Benefits of Coworking Spaces in Irish Towns

Coworking spaces are shared workplaces in which desk space is available to remote workers, freelancers, and small enterprises. They offer the social, technological, and networking advantages of an office while allowing workers the freedom to reside in a location of their choice. Remote working has become a common work practice in recent years, accelerated by restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Irish Government policy strongly supports coworking spaces across the island to support employment diversity and retain populations in towns and villages. Along with the provision of viable workplaces, coworking spaces can provide a range of co-benefits to their localities, such as stimulating local economies and reducing commuting-related emissions. This paper describes a mixed-method study seeking to identify this range of co-benefits through a survey of coworking space users and semi-structured interviews with coworking space founders, managers, and coordinators. The study uses an integrative process to categorise the findings into social, urban, and environmental co-benefits. The research finds that locating a coworking space in a central rather than peripheral urban area can support and optimise many of these co-benefits.

Urban Greening Could Help Achieve Carbon Neutrality Goals

A new modeling framework highlights that urban greening is a sustainable solution to achieve environmental co-benefits in mitigating heat and carbon emissions.

Nature-based alternative-water landscapes for water security and green space health

Abstract This paper is concerned with highlighting and learning from Alternative-Water Urban Landscapes (AWULs) from around the world. Such systems contribute to issues such as water security and greenspace health. Nature-based methods for treating alternative-water can provide for secure water supplies in local landscapes and a wide range of social and environmental co-benefits. However, such treatment methods have raised concerns about efficacy, safety, public opinion, and cost, which have often led to a reliance on centralised, and high-energy and chemical treatment methods. To move forward, more understanding about AWULs is required. The aim of this research is to reveal principles for the design of nature-based AWULs. A framework for the analysis of AWULs was developed from relevant literature works. The framework comprised two sets of criteria based on conservative and innovative aspirations for the AWUL design. A search of AWUL and landscape literature revealed 26 precedents as suitable. These were then analysed using the two sets of criteria which revealed three key outcomes. These included making use of free-water surface flow landscape-based treatment, large AWUL footprints and, partial decentralisation. These findings helped to fashion a set of design principles to guide and encourage adoption of nature-based AWUL by implementers.

Green roof infrastructure outperforms grey technology in flood mitigation in São Paulo’s urbanized region

São Paulo City, Brazil, a densely urbanized area in a tropical climate region, is facing increasing challenges from flooding. However, a promising solution has emerged in the form of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) infrastructure, surpassing traditional grey technology in flood mitigation. This article examines the effectiveness of green roofs in reducing flood risks and highlights their superiority over conventional approaches. We analyzed the direct impacts of surface permeabilization in public areas (sidewalks, streets, and squares) and private areas (urban lots, subdivisions) on runoff volume and peak flow in the Aricanduva River basin in São Paulo city. We used a thoroughly validated hydrological model to compare the interference in the land use of the watershed between a green infrastructure type called Green Roof (GR) and a gray technology called Permeable Pavement (PP), in terms of hydrological efficiency in mitigating floods. The flow and water level simulations for varying areas with GR or PP covered a wide range, allowing for situations above or below the canal overflow level, which provided a good distinction of the impact of boundary conditions. Overall, we observed a positive hydrological response, with a reduction in peak flow and runoff volume proportional to the increase in permeable area, and consequently, proportional to the increase in GR or PP surface within the contributing area. As the main contribution, the hydrological performance calculated with the variation of GR was remarkably superior to the variation of PP in terms of requiring a smaller coverage area with interference to prevent overflow or achieve equivalent efficiency. It is worth noting that the substitution of approximately 24% of the gray roof area with GR prevented canal overflow, which is notably lower than the required substitution of approximately 40% for PP interference. We reinforce the relevance of green roofs as an option to mitigate intense hydrological effects in urban areas and, more importantly, paves the way for other NBS with the same hydrological principles and environmental co-benefits to work individually or in combination.

Improving yield, quality, and environmental co-benefits through optimized irrigation and nitrogen management of hybrid maize in Northwest China

Seed yield (SY) of hybrid maize tends to be emphasized over seed quality, which collectively determine maize planting and production. The maize seed production in the Hexi Corridor supports more than half of China's maize cultivation, but the shortage of water resources and inefficient agricultural resource use limit high-yield, high-quality, and high-efficient production of hybrid maize. In this study, the Jensen- and Rao-based models were developed for SY and seed vigor (SV) of hybrid maize based on data collected from multi-year field experiments, and found that the heading and filling stages were sensitive to water and nitrogen (N) for SY, and jointing and filling for SV. Building on these insights, a framework was developed to optimize irrigation and N fertilization management under different hydrological years, considering interactive sensitivity coefficients of water and N at different growth stages, precipitation, and initial soil available water and N content. Results showed that the optimized irrigation (22.6–37.8%) and N fertilization inputs (34.1–53.2%) and N-surplus (35.3–60.6%) were significantly decreased and irrigation water productivity (WPI) and partial factor productivity from applied N fertilization (PFPN) were significantly increased compared with the current scenario, regardless of whether SV maximization is set in the optimization framework. The optimized scenario that maximizes both SY and SV objectives requires 0.6–8.8% more water and N inputs than the scenario considering only the maximized SY objective in wet, normal, and dry years. The best optimization scenario evaluated by using the osculating value method considering SY and SV, WPI, PFPN, and N-surplus varied between different hydrological years. Our optimization framework and findings would guide high-yield, high-quality and high-resource use efficient production of hybrid maize, with low risk of agricultural N pollution in the Hexi Corridor, and has the potential for further use for optimizing irrigation and fertilization management of other crops.