Climate Change Mitigation, Air Quality and Health (CLIMAQ-H)

Climate change mitigation policies that reduce emissions also improve air quality, bringing health co-benefits – the so-called Health Climate Bonus. The CLIMAQ-H software can be used to estimate the health and related economic gains achieved by Member States of the WHO European Region by implementing actions and measures aimed at mitigating climate change by reducing domestic carbon emissions. These actions and measures, specifically intended to decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, are those defined by the Paris Agreement and reported by governments in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

CLIMAQ-H is a tool for Member States to assess the outcomes of climate-driven policies and support decision-making, or for screening “what-if” scenarios – such as different carbon-reduction options – by comparing the potential health co-benefits achieved by implementing their NDC targets.

How it works

Using methodologies based on evidence from epidemiological studies, CLIMAQ-H calculates the annual benefit of averted long-term mortality and morbidity from exposure to ambient air pollution. Pollutants considered include:

  •  primary emission reductions of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter less than 2.5µm (PM2.5); and
  •  changes in the secondary PM aerosols from emission reductions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3).

Relevant demographic and other data are pre-loaded for most countries in the WHO European Region.

The manual, available both online and as a software package, provides information on how to install CLIMAQ-H, run the software and perform example analyses. It also introduces users to analysing the impact of air pollution on public health, considering data from different countries. Ensuring the support of an epidemiologist or health impact assessment expert is recommended to help set up CLIMAQ-H and interpret results.

CLIMAQ-H replaces and advances the Carbon Reduction Benefits on Health (CaRBonH) calculation tool, released by WHO/Europe in 2018. CaRBonH users can find information on key differences and improvements between CaRBonH and CLIMAQ-H in the manual.

Together with AirQ+, CLIMAQ-H is part of the set of software tools developed by WHO/Europe to quantify the health impacts of air pollution.

The Paris Agreement and the NDCs

Adopted by the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015 (COP21), the Paris Agreement marked a milestone, reflecting a changing landscape in international climate policy with renewed emphasis on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing climate.

The Agreement formalized countries’ commitments to achieving climate-related policy goals/targets through their NDCs, in support of the objectives of the Convention. It represents an opportunity and a challenge for countries to promote policy-making and political awareness of the co-benefits for health from reducing emissions of health-damaging pollutants, by implementing climate-friendly policies and adaptation actions.