"Additional 2 million years of life" in England and Wales by 2050 at net zero

 January 24, 2023

                                       According to a research, achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions in England and Wales by 2050 will result in an additional 2 million years of life.

By law, the UK must achieve net zero by 2050. However, this is the first time that researchers have thoroughly modelled how net zero will affect health. Many of the proposed policies will reduce harmful environmental factors like air pollution and encourage healthy behaviours like diet and exercise.

According to the research article that was published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal, implementing net zero policies will lead to "significant reductions in mortality".

By 2050, analysts estimate that the combination of measures would add at least 2 million more years of life to the population of England and Wales.

Implementing net zero regulations has major health advantages, according to Dr. James Milner of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who oversaw the study. These measures are not only crucial for reducing climate change, but they also improve our health.

The research used death reductions as the sole indicator of health gains. However, data indicates that net zero policies may also lead to fewer persons having health issues, in addition to reducing death.

As long as ventilation measures are included for renovated dwellings, the study concludes that adding insulation to homes would account for 836,000 of the 2 million extra years lived.

It is particularly apparent, according to Milner, "the important role played by retrofitting dwellings with insulation in achieving these health advantages."

Because housing in England and Wales is less well insulated than in other nations, efforts to increase household energy efficiency are especially helpful in lowering carbon emissions and enhancing health.

Our study adds improved health to the extensive list of reasons the UK should implement an aggressive insulation programme as a result of the energy and cost of living problems this winter.

Researchers examined six net zero policies in the transportation, housing, food, and electrical supply sectors. They utilised modelling to calculate the health effects of various initiatives, accounting for how much they lessen air pollution, improve diets, and promote activity.

The researchers took into account two scenarios: a balanced approach in which emissions were reduced by 60% by 2035 and a widespread involvement pathway in which dietary and travel habits changed more quickly.

The number of extra years the population as a whole would live was used to calculate the policies' effect on health.

Home insulation upgrades came in second and third place in terms of health benefits, with 657,000 and 412,000 more years of life gained, respectively, from converting to renewable energy for home electricity and lowering red meat intake.

125,000 life years might have been added by walking or cycling in place of automobile travel, while 46,000 life years could have been added by converting to renewable energy for the production of electricity. 30,000 life years were added when transportation was switched to renewable energy.

The population of England and Wales lived 2 million more years as a result of the balanced route. By 2050, the broad participation pathway's health benefits would have increased by roughly 2.5 million life years.

"The health advantages will be considerably higher if we move faster to adopt more environmentally friendly diets and active modes of transportation," added Milner.

The study's weaknesses were noted by the researchers. However, they added that it's possible that the findings may understate the health advantages of net zero policy.

They added that this is because they were unable to estimate all the possible health advantages, such as decreases in nitrogen dioxide pollution from transportation and agricultural air pollution.

The advantages of other nations enacting their net zero policies on the people of England and Wales, which are anticipated to cut air pollution from continental Europe, for example, were not captured by the researchers either.

"Reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions is likely to lead to substantial benefits for public health in England and Wales," the researchers wrote in their conclusion for the Lancet Planetary Health journal. "The cumulative net benefits are correspondingly greater with a pathway that entails faster and more ambitious changes, especially in physical activity and diets."

Under the terms of a Creative Commons licence, this article has been taken from The Guardian. Go here to read the original article.