Air quality co-benefits should be considered in climate policies on Environmental Expert

Air quality co-benefits should be considered in climate policies on Environmental Expert: "In addition, there are barriers to including air quality co-benefits in international policy regimes. Countries may adopt divergent priorities on climate change and air quality. For example, developing countries might value avoided climatic damage as a co-benefit of their pursuit of air quality improvement, while developed countries might focus on climate impacts directly, with improved air quality as an ancillary benefit.
The study highlights a number of advantages to considering air quality in climate change debates. Firstly, including air-quality co-benefits reduces the cost of climate policy for wider society. Also, improved health through better air quality is more evident on a local, near-term level than climate change, which tends to be regarded by many as a long-term, future issue with many uncertainties. This integrated approach could be used to engage stakeholders who are reluctant to pay for mitigation actions or who are unmotivated to avoid climate damage. For example, developing countries might have stronger incentives to participate in international agreements when air quality co-benefits are included with climate benefits. Accommodating diverse preferences about whether to prioritise climatic or air quality benefits will require a high degree of flexibility in the international climate regime."