A wider perspective on potential co-benefits

In a review paper, developed in cooperation with colleagues from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies of Japan, scientists of the Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases (MAG) Program argued that a multidisciplinary approach, involving the interplay with other policy objectives beyond air quality and climate, is needed to bring policies into line with current research on co-benefits.

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Co-benefits

Most environmental policies are meant to achieve a single goal such as reducing pollution, preserving ecosystems, or mitigating climate change. Yet environmental issues are frequently interlinked, and approaches that exploit these linkages can deliver more than one desirable outcome. The collection of benefits accruing to actions linking climate change and other development priorities (e.g., reducing local pollution) are known as "co-benefits." 

Over the past two decades, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that an integrated or co-benefits approach could prove more cost-effective than managing climate and development issues in isolation. Policies reflecting this integration, however, have tended to lag behind research. 

In a review paper, developed in cooperation with colleagues from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES, Hayama, Japan), MAG argued for an even more holistic perspective to ensure the multiple co-benefits emerging from an interdisciplinary approach can be reflected in policy [1].

References

[1] Zusman E, Miyatsuka A, Evarts D, Kim Oanh NT, Klimont Z, Amann M, Suzuki K, Mohammad A (2013). Co-benefits: Taking a multidisciplinary approach. Carbon Management, 4(2):135-137 (April 2013).

Collaborators

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan.


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Last edited: 22 May 2014

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Zbigniew Klimont

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