ID: 1527
Presenting Author: Thierno Diallo
Session: 572 - Fit For Future and Act at Present: Impact Assessment for Leveraging Challenges and Opportunities from Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Status: pending
The aim of this study is to use HIA to assess the overall risks and benefits of greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies for health and well-being in the city of Geneva.
.Several cities around the world have taken action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but how many know to what extent these measures may affect public health? The aim of this study is to assess the overall risks and benefits of GHG emissions reduction policies for health and well-being in the city of Geneva.
Three projects related to climate change mitigation were identified, in three topic areas: urban planning, heating and transport. The methodological approach consisted in applying the health impact assessment (HIA) process as described to three projects in the topic areas mentioned above. These projects are: a complex urbanisation plan in a neighbourhood of the city of Geneva (urban planning and heating), a sustainable transportation plan for a district in Geneva (transport) and a strategy to encourage City’s employees to use sustainable mobility for local business travel (transport). The main issues investigated were energy, physical activity, air quality and noise. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to assess potential health impacts.
The results show that policies to promote public transport, sustainable mobility and clean energy are environmentally friendly (reduction of CO2 emissions and other pollutants) and able to bring substantial health benefits. It appears from this study that that cities can play a key role in tackling climate change while improving health and that HIA is a useful tool to help make decisions that protect public health and the climate within the same policy framework.
Thierno Diallo is an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the Université Laval, Canada. His research interests focus on climate change and health impact assessment.