Clean air investment powered by the UK’s transition to net zero could deliver some £7.7 billion in economic benefits by 2050, a new report by the Clean Air Fund has claimed.
The report, which incorporated research commissioned from CBI Economics and WSP, highlighted the health and economic benefits of the net zero transition, including improved workforce health, reduced illness-related absences and longer working lives.
Improved air quality could lead to an estimated 38 million additional working days – or 168,000 full-time working years – returned to the UK economy, the report suggests, as well as 264,000 avoided premature deaths.
In addition, cleaner air would lead to around 500,000 avoided hospital admissions from respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, easing pressure on health services and saving taxpayer money.
‘Strongest returns’
“Clean air action delivers some of the strongest returns in public policy,” commented Jane Burston, CEO of the Clean Air Fund. “Cleaning our air will boost our economy and our health while tackling climate change. Improved air quality is one of the most significant and immediate benefits of net zero delivery, with the potential to add nearly £8 billion to the economy by 2050.
“For the UK to make the most of this opportunity, we should be accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles and clean heat sources for residential and commercial buildings, alongside wider decarbonisation measures that will significantly improve people’s health.”
Environmental risk
As the report notes, air pollution ranks as the ‘biggest environmental risk to human health’ in the UK, with associated costs exceeding £500 million per week through healthcare spending, ill health and lost productivity.
Other findings include that London would be the main beneficiary in terms of additional working days, with around nine million days gained, while across the UK, around 2.5 million additional school days could be gained. Elsewhere, black carbon emissions – responsible for respiratory and cardiovascular disease and premature mortality – could fall by as much as 37%.
“While the health impacts of air pollution are well understood, this research highlights the scale of the associated economic benefits that can be achieved through improved air quality,” added Adriana Curca, CBI economics director. “Our analysis shows that cleaner air resulting from the net zero transition could deliver substantial gains to the UK economy through improved workforce health, reduced pressure on health services and fewer working days lost to illness.”
The full report, The Clean Air Dividend of Net Zero, can be found here.
