AUTHOR=Kleiman Gary , Anenberg Susan C. , Chafe Zoe A. , Appiah Desmond C. , Assefa Tibebu , Bizberg Andrea , Coombes Toby , Cuestas Doroti , Henze Daven K. , Kessler Alexander , Kheirbek Iyad , Kinney Patrick , Mahlatji Musa , Marshall Julian D. , Naidoo Seneca , Potwana Nwabisa , Rodriguez Adriana , Tessum Christopher W. , Thomas Culley 

TITLE=Enhanced Integration of Health, Climate, and Air Quality Management Planning at the Urban Scale

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Cities

VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-cities/articles/10.3389/frsc.2022.934672

DOI=10.3389/frsc.2022.934672

ISSN=2624-9634

ABSTRACT=Cities emit the majority of greenhouse gas emissions globally and are increasingly committing to aggressive mitigation actions. Cities are also experiencing poor—and in some cases worsening—air quality, contributing to large disease burdens for adults and children. Integrated planning frameworks can help cities leverage and prioritize measures that achieve climate, air quality and health benefits simultaneously. We developed and applied an integrated climate action planning process that includes air quality, utilizing new assessment tools in six pilot cities: Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Mexico; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Lima, Peru. Results demonstrate that implementing these climate action plans would reduce in-city contributions to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) under ‘Ambitious’ scenarios and would avoid between 230 and 1,040 annual premature deaths, depending on the city, by 2050. The process revealed the importance of (i) geographic scales of analysis, (ii) data integration across climate and air quality, (iii) local engagement and (iv) health messaging. Rapidly scaling up and applying this approach broadens the discussion of planning goals among municipal stakeholders, potentially leading to greater ambition by integrating climate, air pollution and health objectives.