How the Air Clean Plan and carbon mitigation measures co-benefited China in PM2.5 reduction and health from 2014 to 2020

Zhige Wang; Bifeng Hu; Ce Zhang; Peter M. Atkinson; Zifa Wang; Kang Xu; Jinfeng Chang; Xuekun Fang; Yefeng Jiang; Zhou Shi

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107510

How the Air Clean Plan and carbon mitigation measures co-benefited China in PM_2.5 reduction and health from 2014 to 2020

Zhige Wang, Bifeng Hu, Ce Zhang, Peter M. Atkinson, Zifa Wang, Kang Xu, Jinfeng Chang, Xuekun Fang, Yefeng Jiang, Zhou Shi^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Geographical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

China implemented a stringent Air Clean Plan (ACP) since 2013 to address environmental and health risks caused by ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5). However, the policy effectiveness of ACP and co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures to environment and health are still largely unknown. Using satellite-based PM_2.5 products produced in our previous study, concentration–response functions, and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of premature deaths attributable to PM_2.5 exposure, and quantitatively estimated the policy benefits of ACP and carbon mitigation measures. We found the annual PM_2.5 concentrations in China decreased by 33.65 % (13.41 μg m⁻³) from 2014 to 2020, accompanied by a decrease in PM_2.5-attributable premature deaths of 0.23 million (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.22–0.27), indicating the huge benefits of China ACP for human health and environment. However, there were still 1.12 million (95 % CI: 0.79–1.56) premature deaths caused by the exposure of PM_2.5 in mainland China in 2020. Among all ACP measures, clean production (contributed 55.98 % and 51.14 % to decrease in PM_2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM_2.5) and energy consumption control (contributed 32.58 % and 29.54 % to decrease in PM_2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM_2.5) made the largest contribution during the past seven years. Nevertheless, the environmental and health benefits of ACP are not fully synergistic in different regions, and the effectiveness of ACP measures reduced from 2018 to 2020. The co-effects of CO₂ and PM_2.5 has become one of the major drivers for PM_2.5 and premature deaths reduction since 2018, confirming the clear environment and health co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures. Our study suggests, with the saturation of clean production and source control, more targeted region-specific strategies and synergistic air pollution-carbon mitigation measures are critical to achieving the WHO's Air Quality Guideline target and the UN's Sustainable Development Goal Target in China.

Original language	English
Article number	107510
Journal	Environment International
Volume	169
Early online date	8 Sept 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107510
Publication status	Published - 30 Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1800105), the Key R&D Program of Zhejiang (2022C03078), and the Social Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (No. 21YJ43D).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

Air pollution
Carbon mitigation
China Air Clean Plan
Health impact

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

@article{89c1d48fae394002a2b985b725e10c36,

title = "How the Air Clean Plan and carbon mitigation measures co-benefited China in PM2.5 reduction and health from 2014 to 2020",

abstract = "China implemented a stringent Air Clean Plan (ACP) since 2013 to address environmental and health risks caused by ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the policy effectiveness of ACP and co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures to environment and health are still largely unknown. Using satellite-based PM2.5 products produced in our previous study, concentration–response functions, and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 exposure, and quantitatively estimated the policy benefits of ACP and carbon mitigation measures. We found the annual PM2.5 concentrations in China decreased by 33.65 \% (13.41 μg m−3) from 2014 to 2020, accompanied by a decrease in PM2.5-attributable premature deaths of 0.23 million (95 \% confidence interval (CI): 0.22–0.27), indicating the huge benefits of China ACP for human health and environment. However, there were still 1.12 million (95 \% CI: 0.79–1.56) premature deaths caused by the exposure of PM2.5 in mainland China in 2020. Among all ACP measures, clean production (contributed 55.98 \% and 51.14 \% to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) and energy consumption control (contributed 32.58 \% and 29.54 \% to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) made the largest contribution during the past seven years. Nevertheless, the environmental and health benefits of ACP are not fully synergistic in different regions, and the effectiveness of ACP measures reduced from 2018 to 2020. The co-effects of CO2 and PM2.5 has become one of the major drivers for PM2.5 and premature deaths reduction since 2018, confirming the clear environment and health co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures. Our study suggests, with the saturation of clean production and source control, more targeted region-specific strategies and synergistic air pollution-carbon mitigation measures are critical to achieving the WHO's Air Quality Guideline target and the UN's Sustainable Development Goal Target in China.",

keywords = "Air pollution, Carbon mitigation, China Air Clean Plan, Health impact",

author = "Zhige Wang and Bifeng Hu and Ce Zhang and Atkinson, \{Peter M.\} and Zifa Wang and Kang Xu and Jinfeng Chang and Xuekun Fang and Yefeng Jiang and Zhou Shi",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1800105), the Key R\&D Program of Zhejiang (2022C03078), and the Social Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (No. 21YJ43D). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

year = "2022",

month = nov,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1016/j.envint.2022.107510",

language = "English",

volume = "169",

journal = "Environment International",

issn = "0160-4120",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - How the Air Clean Plan and carbon mitigation measures co-benefited China in PM2.5 reduction and health from 2014 to 2020

AU - Wang, Zhige

AU - Hu, Bifeng

AU - Zhang, Ce

AU - Atkinson, Peter M.

AU - Wang, Zifa

AU - Xu, Kang

AU - Chang, Jinfeng

AU - Fang, Xuekun

AU - Jiang, Yefeng

AU - Shi, Zhou

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1800105), the Key R&D Program of Zhejiang (2022C03078), and the Social Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (No. 21YJ43D). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2022/11/30

Y1 - 2022/11/30

N2 - China implemented a stringent Air Clean Plan (ACP) since 2013 to address environmental and health risks caused by ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the policy effectiveness of ACP and co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures to environment and health are still largely unknown. Using satellite-based PM2.5 products produced in our previous study, concentration–response functions, and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 exposure, and quantitatively estimated the policy benefits of ACP and carbon mitigation measures. We found the annual PM2.5 concentrations in China decreased by 33.65 % (13.41 μg m−3) from 2014 to 2020, accompanied by a decrease in PM2.5-attributable premature deaths of 0.23 million (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.22–0.27), indicating the huge benefits of China ACP for human health and environment. However, there were still 1.12 million (95 % CI: 0.79–1.56) premature deaths caused by the exposure of PM2.5 in mainland China in 2020. Among all ACP measures, clean production (contributed 55.98 % and 51.14 % to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) and energy consumption control (contributed 32.58 % and 29.54 % to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) made the largest contribution during the past seven years. Nevertheless, the environmental and health benefits of ACP are not fully synergistic in different regions, and the effectiveness of ACP measures reduced from 2018 to 2020. The co-effects of CO2 and PM2.5 has become one of the major drivers for PM2.5 and premature deaths reduction since 2018, confirming the clear environment and health co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures. Our study suggests, with the saturation of clean production and source control, more targeted region-specific strategies and synergistic air pollution-carbon mitigation measures are critical to achieving the WHO's Air Quality Guideline target and the UN's Sustainable Development Goal Target in China.

AB - China implemented a stringent Air Clean Plan (ACP) since 2013 to address environmental and health risks caused by ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the policy effectiveness of ACP and co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures to environment and health are still largely unknown. Using satellite-based PM2.5 products produced in our previous study, concentration–response functions, and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 exposure, and quantitatively estimated the policy benefits of ACP and carbon mitigation measures. We found the annual PM2.5 concentrations in China decreased by 33.65 % (13.41 μg m−3) from 2014 to 2020, accompanied by a decrease in PM2.5-attributable premature deaths of 0.23 million (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.22–0.27), indicating the huge benefits of China ACP for human health and environment. However, there were still 1.12 million (95 % CI: 0.79–1.56) premature deaths caused by the exposure of PM2.5 in mainland China in 2020. Among all ACP measures, clean production (contributed 55.98 % and 51.14 % to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) and energy consumption control (contributed 32.58 % and 29.54 % to decrease in PM2.5 and premature deaths attributable to PM2.5) made the largest contribution during the past seven years. Nevertheless, the environmental and health benefits of ACP are not fully synergistic in different regions, and the effectiveness of ACP measures reduced from 2018 to 2020. The co-effects of CO2 and PM2.5 has become one of the major drivers for PM2.5 and premature deaths reduction since 2018, confirming the clear environment and health co-benefits of carbon mitigation measures. Our study suggests, with the saturation of clean production and source control, more targeted region-specific strategies and synergistic air pollution-carbon mitigation measures are critical to achieving the WHO's Air Quality Guideline target and the UN's Sustainable Development Goal Target in China.

KW - Air pollution

KW - Carbon mitigation

KW - China Air Clean Plan

KW - Health impact

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U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107510

DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107510

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 36099757

AN - SCOPUS:85137639505

SN - 0160-4120

VL - 169

JO - Environment International

JF - Environment International

M1 - 107510

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