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Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal Perceptions of health co-benefits in relation to greenhouse gas emission reductions: A survey among urban residents in three Chinese cities

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal

Gao J, Xu G, Ma W, Zhang Y, Woodward A, Vardoulakis S, Kovats S, Wilkinson P, He T, Lin H, Liu T, Gu S, Wang J, Li J, Yang J, Liu X, Li J, Wu H, Liu Q
2017
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 14 (3)

Limited information is available on the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the health co-benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of urban residents on the health co-benefits involving GHG abatement and related influencing factors in three cities in China. Beijing, Ningbo and Guangzhou were selected for this survey. Participants were recruited from randomly chosen committees, following quotas for gender and age in proportion to the respective population shares. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were employed to examine the associations between socio-demographic variables and individuals' perceptions of the health co-benefits related to GHG mitigation. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of respondents' awareness about the health co-benefits. A total of 1159 participants were included in the final analysis, of which 15.9% reported that they were familiar with the health co-benefits of GHG emission reductions. Those who were younger, more educated, with higher family income, and with registered urban residence, were more likely to be aware of health co-benefits. Age, attitudes toward air pollution and governmental efforts to improve air quality, suffering from respiratory diseases, and following low carbon lifestyles are significant predictors of respondents' perceptions on the health co-benefits. These findings may not only provide information to policy-makers to develop and implement public welcome policies of GHG mitigation, but also help to bridge the gap between GHG mitigation measures and public engagement as well as willingness to change health-related behaviors.

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Resource Description

    Air Pollution
    • Air Pollution: Other Air Pollution, Specify
      • Other Air Pollution, Specify: Greenhouse Gases
      Air Pollution (other)
    Urban
    Non-United States
    • Non-United States: Asia
    General Health Impact
    Research Article
    Communication, Mitigation
    • Communication, Mitigation : General Public/Unspecified
    • Communication, Mitigation : Mitigation Co-Benefit/Co-Harm
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