nteg rated nvironmental Strategies Final Summary Report: Climate, Air Pollution and Public Health: Estimating Morbidity and Mortality from Fossil Fuel Consumption in Major Urban Areas in Developing Countries World Resources Institute, for U.S. EPA May 2004 ------- Climate, Air Pollution and Public Health: Estimating Morbidity and Mortality from Fossil Fuel Consumption in Major Urban Areas in Developing Countries EPA Cooperative Agreement CR826980-01 Final Summary Report In 1998 the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the US EPA Office of Policy entered into a multi-year Cooperative Agreement CR826980-01: Climate Policy, Air Pollution and Public Health: Estimating Mortality and Morbidity From Fossil Fuel Consumption in Major Urban Areas in Developing Countries. The broad goal of the project was to address the climate change, air pollution and public health implications of energy use in major urban areas, especially the very large "megacities", of developing countries. The project activity was organized around studies with developing country experts to document the co-benefits that would follow from adopting less carbon-intensive energy and urban transportation policies in order to: (a) lessen the impact of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel combustion, and (b) significantly reduce current and future public health impacts from exposure to combustion-related air pollutants. This involved the development and adaptation of methods, working with technical experts in the target countries, and technical support to these experts in carrying out the assessments. In addition, results of the methods development, case studies and other technical information were synthesized and disseminated to a variety of important audiences including the relevant technical communities (e.g., health researchers, air quality management officials), policy makers, and the interested public. During the roughly four year duration of this project, the cooperative agreement was amended twice and the scope expanded to include assessment of a broader range of ancillary effects (co-benefits or costs) of climate change policies, and development of corporate level GHG inventory methodology. The project produced a significant body of technical work that was disseminated as available through reports, journal articles, briefing materials and other media. This work made a substantial contribution to the technical and policy literature and was generally successful in achieving the goals established by EPA and WRI for the project. This final report provides an overview of the principle activities and products of the project but does not attempt to reproduce the detailed technical content produced over several years. Rather it summarizes briefly the major achievements and products, and attaches copies of these products. Background. The use of fossil fuels will increase greatly in future decades throughout the world, especially in many rapidly developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Analyses that quantitatively document the short-term impacts on public health of continuing current patterns of fuel use can serve as critical tools for policy makers. This information can galvanize public support for efforts to promote more efficient growth and the use of less carbon-intensive fuels. The documentation and awareness of the public 1 ------- health impacts of current energy patterns provides clear, empirical information that can guide the policy process regarding greenhouse gases and lessen the impact of associated air pollution on public health. In some key regions that are projected to grow substantially in the first few decades of this century, there were no readily available data on country-wide exposures to particulate matter and other air pollutants at the outset of this project. Moreover, the available data on public health impacts from such exposures were uneven and incomplete. As a consequence, estimates of health consequences of fossil fuel combustion were usually absent from the international policy-planning discussions such as those related to international climate treaty negotiations. Prior to the inception of this project, key WRI staff played a leading role in a broad working group which pulled together one of the first preliminary global estimates of the near-term "co-benefits" of reductions in fossil-fuel combustion which could result from global climate change mitigation. These benefits were based on the ancillary reductions in emissions of traditional air pollution and related public health impacts that would accompany climate change policies. The results were published in The Lancet, a highly influential medical journal in November 1997. This preliminary study provided the starting point for methods development under the EPA-WRI Cooperative Agreement and also helped raised awareness of these issues around the world, which greatly assisted the efforts to identify partners in key developing country megacities. The project was designed to produce estimates of potential public health benefits and capital savings that can be derived from various climate control policies that will reduce the use of fossil fuels. In each of the selected urban regions, partnerships were formed with key public health and policy-making institutions, including government agencies, academia and NGOs, in order to produce collaborative assessment reports. WRI proposed to publish the results of this work jointly with its partners in both general and specialized, national and international publications. Activities The agreement and its two subsequent amendments identified five major areas of activity: 1) the development of methods for climate, air pollution and public health assessment; 2) support for case studies in key megacities, working with local expert teams; 3) development and dissemination of reports and synthesis products; 4) support for a broad evaluation of the state of knowledge on ancillary benefits and costs of climate policies, and recommendations for further work in this area; and 5) development of methods for corporate-level GHG inventories. In each of these areas, the WRI project was able to make substantial progress and to contribute results which have enriched the scientific understanding and technical literature, encouraged cost-effective responses in developing countries and private companies, and stimulated considerable related work by researchers around the world. 2 ------- 1) Methods development for climate, air pollution and public health assessment The project staff built on the methods and experience of the Working Group that produced the groundbreaking Lancet article in 1997 and refined these methods working with partners in key developing countries. After consultation with a number of key US and international experts, WRI staff developed an initial template for case studies in selected megacities. This methodology was then discussed and adapted working with expert teams in Brazil and China. Key interim products were: In March 1998, a major international workshop was held in Sao Paolo, Brazil, hosted by the State Environmental Agency. Representatives from WRI, EPA, USAID, and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as other experts from the US and Latin America attended and commented on the proposed methodology and its application in Sao Paolo. In April 1998, WRI staff produced Chinese Language materials (copy attached) summarizing the results of the Lancet Article: "Short-Term Improvements in Public Health from Global Climate Policies on Fossil Fuel Combustion: an Interim Report", Working Group on Public Health and Fossil-Fuel Combustion, November 8, 1997 These materials were disseminated as background for discussion of the application or the proposed methods to Shanghai and Beijing. Results of the methods development work and its adaptation to specific city situations are reflected in the workplans and results of the Brazil and China case studies discussed below. In addition, the World Resources Institute's (WRI) project raised international awareness concerning the growing problems posed by current patterns of fossil fuel use, by devising a straightforward indicator of population at risk from hazardous levels of air pollution in major cities and urban areas of the world. As part of its overall objective in producing informed public discussion of climate relevant policies, the project published an approach for comparing urban air pollution risks to children in specific cities: Urban Air Pollution Risks to Children: A Global Environmental Health Indicator, Principal authors, Devra L. Davis and Paulo H. N. Saldiva, WRI Environmental Health Notes, September 1999 (copy attached). 2) Case Studies in Specific Urban Areas The project was successful in identifying and engaging leading technical experts in Brazil and China, and in working effectively with and supporting those experts in carrying out groundbreaking case studies projecting the likely co-benefits of reductions in fossil fuel 3 ------- use in reducing air pollution and public health impacts and greenhouse gas emissions simultaneously. The WRI project focused direct case study support in 3 megacities, though technical advice and review were provided to additional cities. Progress in these studies was marked by several important milestones: Sao Paolo Based on the results of the March 1998, methods workshop, the case team was established . A joint working group of WRI, Brazilian and other expertsthe case study was designed and launched in late 1998. The first report was produced in 1999 with more refined results included in a journal article published in 2001. This journal article also included results from some megacities which were advised but not directly supported by WRI. The assessment work in Sao Paolo has continued after the completion of the WRI agreement through a related EPA research project. Key products were: Public health Impacts of Fossil Fuels in Sao Paolo: a Preliminary Assessment. August, 1999, produced by the Sao Paolo study team (copy attached). "Assessing the Health Benefits of Urban Air Pollution Reductions Associated with Climate Change Mitigation (2000-2020): Santiago, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and New York City" Cifuentes, Boija-Aburto, Gouveia, Thurston and Davis. Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2001. (copy attached) Shanghai In April, 1999, WRI President Jonathon Lash signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dr. Qu Geping, member of the State Council and Co- Chair, Pollution Control Working Group of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). (copy attached). This MOU established the basic structure and work program for the Shanghai case study, the first of it's kind in China. The study team included experts from the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, and the Shanghai Medical University (later reorganized into the Fudan University School of Public Health), WRI staff and other US experts. The team developed its own version of the methodology and applied it to produce a first report in 2000 (copy attached). This study was further developed and refined to produce a second report in 2001. Results of the study were provided to the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau and other policy officials, and was credited with significantly influencing and improving the cities tenth 5-year plan for air pollution which set goals and broad strategies for air quality management from 2000-2005. Major products were: Shanghai Energy Option and Health Impact, Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences and Shanghai Medical University, August 2000. (copy attached). 4 ------- The Integrated Assessment of Energy Options and Health Benefit, Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences and School of Public Health, Fudan University, December 2001. (copy attached) Beijing - Shortly after initiating the Shanghai case study, the WRI staff worked with policy makers and technical experts in Beijing to establish study team for that city. This team included experts from Tsinghua University, Beijing Medical University, the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center and the National Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, with support form WRI staff and other US experts. In December, 1999, the Beijing technical team produced the workplan for the initial study of that city, (copy attached) The work was initiated under the WRI agreement and has been carried on since the completion of the WRI agreement through another EPA supported project. Interim results and tools based on work initiated under the WRI agreement are being used to support the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Chinese and local governments in their efforts to design and implement strategies to meet ambitious air quality goals for the 2008 Games. 3) Reporting and Outreach Throughout this project the WRI staff disseminated information on co-benefits of climate change mitigation and air pollution, public health and economic improvements, particularly related to the large urban areas in developing countries. This included, briefings, speeches, workshops, and interviews, as well as targeted and general interest publications. Some of the most significant results in this area are: Workshops June 2000, WRI staff were instrumental in organizing a session titled "Co-Benefits Analysis: Integration of Air Pollution, Health and Climate Change Priorities" at the Air and Waste Management Associations 2nd Annual International Urban Environmental Infrastructure Forum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Devra Davis of WRI also gave the luncheon speech at the Forum. These efforts showcased results and methods from the project and related activities to the air quality management technical community. September 2001, WRI staff helped organize and run an expert workshop on economic and public health impacts of air pollution, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany. This meeting brought together experts from key developing countries as well as public health researchers and highlighted the concepts and preliminary results of co-benefits and related air pollution health effects research in developing countries to the health research community. A report of this workshop was later published: 5 ------- "International Expert Workshop on the Analysis of the Economic and Public Health Impacts of Air Pollution: Workshop Summary", Michelle L. Bell, Devra Davis, et al., Environmental Health Perspective, v. 110, n.ll, November 2002. (copy attached) Publications June 1998 China's Health and Environment, Chapter in World Resources 1998- 99, A Guide to the Global Environment; (copy attached) "Hidden Health Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation", Cifuentes, Borja- Aburto, Gouveia, Thurston and Davis, Policy Forum: Climate Change, Science, August 17, 2001 (copy attached) 4) Assessing the Ancillary Benefits and Cost of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation With the second amendment to the agreement, a new task was added to provide for broad evaluation and synthesis of the global state of knowledge on ancillary benefits and costs of climate change policies. This stocktaking was timely and critically important for several reasons. First, it provided a valuable opportunity to showcase work on co-control benefits in developing country megacities, to stimulate discussion of early results and to plan and coordinate further work in developing countries. Second, it provided a synthesis of the research, case studies and scientific understanding of a wide range of ancillary benefits and costs, that was a major foundation for the discussions of these impacts in the United Nations sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report published in 2001. Finally, the effort provided a basis for establishing priorities and technical approaches for further research on ancillary impacts of climate policies. The centerpiece of the effort to evaluate and synthesize the understanding of ancillary impacts was a global Experts Workshop on Assessing the Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Mitigation Strategies. This workshop was co-sponsored by the IPCC, The organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Resources for the Future (RFF), Statistics Norway, US Department of Energy (DOE), US EPA and WRI, and was organized in Washington, D.C., 27-29 March 2000. Its objectives were to gather experts from around the world to seek to: establish a common basis of understanding about the conceptual and empirical elements of ancillary benefits and costs of climate change policies; identify options for integrating ancillary benefits/costs into policy design and analysis; and identify research gaps and fruitful areas for further research to narrow uncertainties about this issue and make the analysis more useful for policy- makers, with a special focus on domestic U.S. research priorities. 6 ------- While the workshop left many issues for further work, it advanced understanding on common elements of an analytic framework for addressing ancillary benefits and costs and facilitated a dialogue between analysts in the field. Products from the workshop include: Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, Proceedings of an IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop 27-29 March, 2000, Washington D.C. published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France 2000. Excerpts are attached, full report is available at http://oecdpublications.gfi-nb.com/cgi-bin/OECDBookShop.storefront/EN/product/97200Q121Pl Ancillary Effects of Climate Change Policies: Frameworks and Methodologies, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France 2000. (copy attached) "Understanding the Ancillary Effects of Climate Change Policies: a Research Agenda", Anthony Janetos and Amy Wagener, WRI Policy Brief (May 2002) (copy attached). The workshop activities and products also served as support for participation by staff of this project in the IPCC process. Dr. Devra Davis, with support from this project, was one of the lead authors for chapters 8 and 9 of the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR) on the ancillary benefits and costs of mitigation: Climate Change 2001: Mitigation. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group III, 2001. Chapters 8 and 9 are attached, full report available at: http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc tar/wg3/index.htm 5) Development of methods for corporate-level GHG inventories The last task was also added in the third amendment to the agreement. It recognized the need to promote action to reduce GHG emissions at the corporate level as well as national and facility level measures. This methods effort accounted for the role of the private sector as a vehicle for promoting GHG mitigation strategies and associate ancillary benefits. WRI's GHG Protocol Initiative (GHGP) team laid the foundation for the development of the standards and tools to measure and evaluate those impacts. Partnering with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), WRI structured a multi-stakeholder process that brought together key policy makers, NGOs, businesses and business associations to build these standards and tools. In the last quarter of 2001, the GHG Protocol published the first edition of the corporate accounting and reporting standard. The standards, guidance and calculation tools help companies and others prepare a GHG emissions inventory - a critical step in establishing credible and meaningful reduction commitments, as well as tracking progress over time. Over 350 individuals from corporations, non-profits, and governments contributed to the creation of this document. An extensive structured feedback process was implemented to 7 ------- solicit feedback from companies using the protocol to compile an emissions inventory, as well as other key stakeholders. A second edition has just recently been published. (Both editions are attached). Conclusions This brief review of the major activities and products carried out under the EPA-WRI Cooperative Agreement CR826980-01: Climate Policy, Air Pollution and Public Health: Estimating Mortality and Morbidity From Fossil Fuel Consumption in Major Urban Areas in Developing Countries, demonstrates the broad scope and importance of the work carried out in this successful collaboration of WRI and the US EPA. Despite occasional setbacks and delays inherent in a groundbreaking project, set in developing countries, the project was successful in significantly advancing the state of knowledge in each of the five major technical areas identified in the original project proposal and two amendments. It produced valuable contributions to the technical literature as well as practical results practical results on the ground in key partner cities and developing countries. In addition, the project disseminated information to the general public and various technical communities through a through series of reports, briefings, workshops, etc. The methods, tools and initial results produced in this project have been used as foundations for several ongoing projects which have continued the work with developing countries and other partners on co-benefits of climate policies, and GHG inventory methods. These activities are not only improving the scientific and technical understanding in these important areas, but are already influencing development and implementation of constrictive policies and measures in developing and developed countries, international organizations and corporate management. 8 ------- Attachments 1) Chinese Language materials summarizing the results of the Lancet Article: "Short-Term Improvements in Public Health from Global Climate Policies on Fossil Fuel Combustion: an Interim Report" 2) Urban Air Pollution Risks to Children: A Global Environmental Health Indicator, Principal authors, Devra L. Davis and Paulo H. N. Saldiva, WRI Environmental Health Notes, September 1999 3) Public health Impacts of Fossil Fuels in Sao Paolo: a Preliminary Assessment. August, 1999 4) "Assessing the Health Benefits of Urban Air Pollution Reductions Associated with Climate Change Mitigation (2000-2020): Santiago, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and New York City" Cifuentes, Borja-Aburto, Gouveia, Thurston and Davis. Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2001 5) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dr. Qu Geping, member of the State Council and Co-Chair, Pollution Control Working Group of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), April, 1999. 6) Shanghai Energy Option and Health Impact, Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences and Shanghai Medical University, August 2000. 7) The Integrated Assessment of Energy Options and Health Benefit, Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences and School of Public Health, Fudan University, December 2001. 8) The Co-Benefit Project II: Energy Options and Public Health Benefits: the Case of Beijing. Tsinghua University, Beijing Medical University, Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center, National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurement, December, 1999. 9) "International Expert Workshop on the Analysis of the Economic and Public Health Impacts of Air Pollution: Workshop Summary", Michelle L. Bell, Devra Davis, et al., Environmental Health Perspective, v. 110, n. 11, November 2002. 10) China's Health and Environment, Chapter in World Resources 1998-99, A Guide to the Global Environment, June 1998 11) "Hidden Health Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation", Cifuentes, Borja-Aburto, Gouveia, Thurston and Davis, Policy Forum: Climate Change, Science, August 17, 2001 12) Ancillary Benefits and Costs of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation, Proceedings of an IPCC Co-Sponsored Workshop 27-29 March, 2000, Washington D.C. published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France 2000. (Excerpts) 13) Ancillary Effects of Climate Change Policies: Frameworks and Methodologies, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, France 2000. 14) "Understanding the Ancillary Effects of Climate Change Policies: a Research Agenda", Anthony Janetos and Amy Wagener, WRI Policy Brief (May 2002). 15) Climate Change 2001: Mitigation. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Working Group III, 2001. Chapters 8 and 9 9 ------- 16) The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: a Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute, 2001. 17) The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, Revised Edition. World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resources Institute, 2004. 10 ------- |