Climate friendly public health policies make economic sense

Investing in public health policies that help tackle the climate emergency makes economic sense, as well as being good for human and planetary health. Government investments centred around healthier environments and healthier livelihoods provide a national public good, while also supporting nationally determined contributions and global mitigation efforts—a global public good.There are four critical areas where a more holistic approach to public health overlaps with efforts to tackle the climate emergency, bringing clear co-benefits to health and climate and potentially benefiting the broader economy. These are: reducing air pollution, encouraging healthier diets, increasing active lifestyles, and “greening” urban landscapes. However, while their potential is clear, more evidence is needed as to what the overall benefits are for individual countries in relation to the investments required, as well as the distributional implications.Fossil fuel air pollution is estimated to be responsible for around one in five deaths worldwide.1 The combination of higher…
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