Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission

Sarah Whitmee; Rosemary Green; Kristine Belesova; Syreen Hassan; Soledad Cuevas; Peninah Murage; Roberto Picetti; Romain Clercq-Roques; Kris Murray; Jane Falconer; Blanca Anton; Tamzin Reynolds; Hugh Sharma Waddington; Robert C. Hughes; Joseph Spadaro; Aimée Aguilar Jaber; Yamina Saheb; Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum; Maria Cortés-Puch; Kristie Ebi; Rachel Huxley; Mariana Mazzucato; Tolu Oni; Nicole de Paula; Gong Peng; Aromar Revi; Johan Rockström; Leena Srivastava; Lorraine Whitmarsh; Robert Zougmoré; Joy Phumaphi; Helen Clark; Andy Haines

doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02466-2

Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission

Sarah Whitmee
, Rosemary Green
, Kristine Belesova
, Syreen Hassan
, Soledad Cuevas
, Peninah Murage
, Roberto Picetti
, Romain Clercq-Roques
, Kris Murray
, Jane Falconer
, Blanca Anton
, Tamzin Reynolds
, Hugh Sharma Waddington
, Robert C. Hughes
, Joseph Spadaro
, Aimée Aguilar Jaber
, Yamina Saheb
, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum
, Maria Cortés-Puch
, Kristie Ebi

Rachel Huxley, Mariana Mazzucato, Tolu Oni, Nicole de Paula, Gong Peng, Aromar Revi, Johan Rockström, Leena Srivastava, Lorraine Whitmarsh, Robert Zougmoré, Joy Phumaphi, Helen Clark, Andy Haines

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Imperial College London
London International Development Centre
Spadaro Environmental Research Consultants (SERC)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Sciences Po
World Health Organization
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
University of Washington
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Inc.
University College London
MRC Epidemiology Unit
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Women Leaders for Planetary Health
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Indian Institute for Human Settlements
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Ashoka Centre for a People-centric Energy Transition
AICCRA
African Leaders Malaria Alliance
Helen Clark Foundation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

89 Citations (SciVal)

833 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Deep, rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to limit future global temperature increases to 1·5°C above pre-industrial levels, but current progress is inadequate to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and to reduce future risks from climate change. Many actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions can also deliver near-term health co-benefits, for example from reduced air pollution, consumption of healthy diets, and increased physical activity. High-quality evidence on the type and magnitude of co-benefits that can be realised and improved knowledge of how to promote the implementation of such actions can support progress towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Lancet Pathfinder Commission was established to collate and assess the evidence on the near-term health effects of greenhouse gas mitigation, including both modelling studies and evaluated implemented actions. The Commission's aim is to assess the potential and achieved magnitude of the benefits for health and climate of different mitigation actions and, where possible, the factors facilitating or impeding implementation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	67-110
Number of pages	44
Journal	The Lancet
Volume	403
Issue number	10421
Early online date	20 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02466-2
Publication status	Published - 6 Jan 2024

Funding

For cases in which authors are identified as personnel of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) or WHO, the authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Commission and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of the FAO or WHO. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Robert Marten for contribution to Pathfinder partner calls; Dev Millstein for comment and feedback on the US renewable energy case study; Toby Cumming for data, comment, and feedback on the Victorian Health Homes case study; Takumi Niino for data, comment, and feedback on the Tokyo case study; Michael Keall for comment and feedback on the Active Travel in New Zealand case study; Kinari Webb for comment and feedback on the Health in Harmony case study; Amy Kirbyshire, Honorine van den Broek d'Obrenan, Jessy Field, Nienke Meinsma, and Sandra Swanson for their help in identifying and analysing case studies and with communications and outreach; Marina Romanello for review and comment on the Lancet Countdown section; Fawzia Rashid and Iris Blom for their support and advice on sustainable health-care systems; Sunita Malhi, Sarah Sharpe, and Ellie Darbey for their support in the coordination of Pathfinder activities, meetings, and communications; Andrija Erac for review of a report draft; Jess Beagley for review and comment on a final draft; and Kumanan Rasanathan and Sudvhir Singh for discussions and background on climate and equity. Our sincere thanks go to the contributors of suggested case studies through our call for evidence and to the anonymous reviewers whose contribution, feedback, and opinions have vastly improved this report.

UN SDGs

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

SDG 13 Climate Action

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Medicine

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10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02466-2

Whitmee et al Pathfinder Commission Report Accepted ManuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 1.91 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

Whitmee, S., Green, R., Belesova, K., Hassan, S., Cuevas, S., Murage, P., Picetti, R., Clercq-Roques, R., Murray, K., Falconer, J., Anton, B., Reynolds, T., Sharma Waddington, H., Hughes, R. C., Spadaro, J., Aguilar Jaber, A., Saheb, Y., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Cortés-Puch, M., ... Haines, A. (2024). Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission. The Lancet, 403(10421), 67-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02466-2

Whitmee, S, Green, R, Belesova, K, Hassan, S, Cuevas, S, Murage, P, Picetti, R, Clercq-Roques, R, Murray, K, Falconer, J, Anton, B, Reynolds, T, Sharma Waddington, H, Hughes, RC, Spadaro, J, Aguilar Jaber, A, Saheb, Y, Campbell-Lendrum, D, Cortés-Puch, M, Ebi, K, Huxley, R, Mazzucato, M, Oni, T, de Paula, N, Peng, G, Revi, A, Rockström, J, Srivastava, L, Whitmarsh, L, Zougmoré, R, Phumaphi, J, Clark, H & Haines, A 2024, 'Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission', The Lancet, vol. 403, no. 10421, pp. 67-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02466-2

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Pathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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