A recent study published in Science Advances emphasizes that implementing stringent climate policies to prevent exceeding 1.5°C of global warming could significantly improve public health and reduce economic damages by 2030.

The study highlights that ambitious climate actions offer immediate health and economic benefits, underscoring their importance beyond environmental impact.

The findings highlight that densely populated and polluted regions like China and India would benefit most from climate action, with China preventing 84,000 premature deaths and India 73,000 by 2030.

India faces severe pollution issues, exemplified by toxic smog during Diwali in New Delhi, which exceeds WHO pollution guidelines by over 16 times, contributing to 1.67 million deaths in 2019 due to poor air quality.

This is the first study to quantify the air pollution co-benefits of limiting short-term temperature overshoot, considering multiple scenarios, regional differences, and uncertainties.

Air pollution, responsible for one in eight deaths worldwide, is linked to health issues such as strokes, lung cancers, and respiratory diseases, though the study may underestimate lives saved by excluding diabetes.

The upcoming COP30 summit in Brazil will serve as a crucial platform to accelerate global climate action, ten years after the Paris Agreement, amid ongoing political inertia.

Researchers used a global air pollution source-receptor model to assess how net-zero pathways could impact air quality, health, and economic costs across different regions.

The study stresses the urgency of stabilizing temperatures in the short term, even if the 1.5°C target seems increasingly out of reach, as efforts to stay under 2°C remain feasible and vital.

If global efforts successfully limit warming to below 1.5°C through net-zero emissions, approximately 207,000 premature deaths related to air pollution could be prevented by 2030, saving around $2,269 billion in economic damages, roughly 2% of the 2020 global GDP.

The study underscores that climate mitigation policies not only cut greenhouse gases but also deliver substantial health benefits via improved air quality, reinforcing the importance of short-term temperature stabilization.