Tackling the chronic disease burden: are there co-benefits from climate policy measures?

Each year, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 40 million people worldwide and impose an estimated economic burden of $600 billion. Without effective policymaking, NCDs will continue to undermine health and economic systems globally. We propose that climate policy measures—such as carbon pricing—can yield significant health-related co-benefits aside from their intended greenhouse gas emission reduction. We simulate three carbon tax scenarios in the energy and food sector in Belgium and assess the resulting health-related co-benefits. These benefits originate from decreased exposure to two leading NCD risk factors: fine particulate matter and dietary regimes excessive in animal products. The carbon tax could prevent 42,300–78,800 Disability-Adjusted Life Years in Belgium, or save 0.6–1.1% of total health care expenditure and an additional 0.06–0.12% of Belgian GDP. We conclude that these health-related co-benefits should be included in the cost–benefit analysis of carbon pricing.