A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal has shown that enacting net-zero policies would substantially reduce the death rate in England and Wales by 2050.
According to the report, if all the policies were actioned, at least two million additional years would be lived across the country’s population by 2050. Evidence from several studies indicates that net-zero policies may also lead to fewer health issues being experienced by individuals, in addition to lowering mortality.
The study examined six net-zero policies across the electricity supply, transport, housing and food sectors.
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Researchers who undertook the study utilized modelling to predict the health effects of these initiatives, taking into consideration how much they would cut air pollution, improve diets, and boost exercise.
Among other things, the study considered two different scenarios, including a “balanced pathway”, in which emissions were reduced by 60 per cent by 2035 and a “widespread engagement pathway” in which consumer behaviour around diet and travel choices changed more rapidly.
It measured the policies’ impact on health by looking at the number of additional years people would live across the whole population.
According to the findings, installing insulation in older homes will add 836,000 years to life expectancy by 2050, generating the highest improvement in health.
Also, switching to renewable energy to power homes and cutting down on the consumption of red meat resulted in 657,000 and 412,000 years gained, respectively.
Then, moving to renewable energy for the production of electricity resulted in a gain of 46,000 years, while switching from car travel to walking or cycling resulted in a gain of 125,000 years. And lastly, 30,000 years were gained by transitioning to renewable energy for transportation.
Story was adapted from The National News.
