Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: overview and implications for policy makers

November 25, 2009 · 0 comments

The Lancet, 25 November 2009doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61759-1

Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions: overview and implications for policy makers

Prof Andy Haines FMedSci, Prof Anthony J McMichael PhD, Prof Kirk R Smith PhD, Prof Ian Roberts PhD, James Woodcock MSc, Prof Anil Markandya PhD, Prof Ben G Armstrong PhD, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum PhD, Alan D Dangour PhD, Prof Michael Davies PhD, Nigel Bruce PhD, Cathryn Tonne ScD, Mark Barrett PhD, Paul Wilkinson FRCP

This Series has examined the health implications of policies aimed at tackling climate change. Assessments of mitigation strategies in four domains—household energy, transport, food and agriculture, and electricity generation—suggest an important message: that actions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions often, although not always, entail net benefits for health. In some cases, the potential benefits seem to be substantial. This evidence provides an additional and immediate rationale for reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions beyond that of climate change mitigation alone. Climate change is an increasing and evolving threat to the health of populations worldwide. At the same time, major public health burdens remain in many regions. Climate change therefore adds further urgency to the task of addressing international health priorities, such as the UN Millennium Development Goals. Recognition that mitigation strategies can have substantial benefits for both health and climate protection offers the possibility of policy choices that are potentially both more cost effective and socially attractive than are those that address these priorities independently.

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