anything labeled “climate policy” is an instant turnoff for policymakers. 

but what if policy can achieve the same climate-first results without the label, all while delivering improved public health and saving money? 

researchers around the world are looking to implement climate policy without using the word “climate” by turning to urban planning, food, and energy solutions, according to a report released in environmental epidemiology.  

the report is encouraging climate policy that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting the attention on public health, says george thurston, an author of the report and a professor of medicine and population health at new york university.

“the more you can localize and individualize these risks and benefits, the more people are going to be motivated to do something,” thurston said.

the researchers presented 11 different case studies of climate action in seven countries and demonstrated their efficacy in producing improvements not only in greenhouse gas emissions but also in public health and healthcare cost expenditures. their bottom line was that improving the climate is not really a cost at all, but could be a preemptive economic rescue plan for the u.s. health system if more intervention studies and policies were modeled after the case studies they examined.

mary rice, the report’s corresponding author, joined thurston in saying that their motivations for the study were grounded in trying to influence policymaking.

“we intended to illustrate the opportunity and also the importance of more rigorous research in this area, looking at the full picture of what the costs and benefits are of climate interventions,” rice, the director of harvard’s harvard’s center for climate, health, and the global environment program, said.

while the two researchers cited a lack of intervention studies being conducted and funded as a limitation to the scope of the case studies they presented, they said that it only highlights the need for funding into these projects that could help shape policy to come and improve community health. among the 11 case studies they looked at were ones involving energy use in pittsburgh, urban planning in barcelona, and food systems in sweden. 

pittsburgh: asthma rates and hospitalizations plummet after the shenango coke works plant closure

residents of alleghany county, pennsylvania endured decades of odors that would wake them in the night, soot that would collect on their homes, and escalating child asthma rates. then, in 2016, they celebrated the closing of the shenango coke works plant and what it would mean for community health. 

“they [the residents] didn’t imagine that things could improve so much so quickly,” annie fox, a law clerk with the clean air council, said.

before its closure, the shenango coke works plant produced a form of refined coal used in steelmaking called coke. it is created by baking coal at high temperatures, and often contributes to carbon air pollution. 

fox described a “constant vigilance” that residents of the pittsburgh suburb would experience when stepping outside their homes, readying themselves for facing poor air quality. when the coal plant closed, she said, “people just said the absence of having to notice the air was huge.” 

pediatric emergency room visits related to asthma dropped by 40 percent immediately, fox said, and local hospitals saw reduced visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and strokes.  

within just three years of the plant’s closure, pittsburgh saved over $12,000,000 in hospitalization medical costs, according to an epa mapping program used by the report. 

after the public health benefits of the coke plant closure, residents continue to advocate for stricter air pollution enforcement.  

“seeing that the benefits the community received were even greater than they imagined, it galvanizes people to keep participating, organizing, and keep striving to protect their family’s health and the community’s health,” fox said. 

barcelona: superblocks lay the blueprint for climate and people-first urban planning

in barcelona, greenhouse gas emissions and improved public health are being tackled through urban planning solutions with the creation of their “superblock” program.  

catherine pérez, the health promotion department head at the agència de salut pública de barcelona, said a “superblock” is an urban planning technique used to cluster city blocks and divert traffic to the perimeter, leaving the interior streets for people to walk, play, and relax. 

“the design goal is to cut traffic volume and speed, reduce air and noise pollution and heat, and boost everyday physical activity and social interaction,” pérez said in an interview. 

in a study released in february 2025, pérez said she and her colleagues looked to produce evidence on how the superblock designs change everyday exposures and wellbeing, with an emphasis on equity.  

although they determined that additional measures are needed to deliver consistent results, pérez said half of residents across three of the superblocks reported less noise and pollution inside the intervention zone.

to convince policymakers across the world to invest in superblocks that remove interior, city traffic, improves pollution, and reallocates space to people, pérez said she would point to the numbers. 

rice and thurston also highlighted a benefit of 1.7 billion euros annually due to longer life expectancy if all 503 planned superblocks are implemented. with only six completed superblocks, pérez said this potential points to why investment should continue. 

“these interventions could prevent an estimated 667 premature deaths per year in barcelona, according to independent health-impact assessments,” pérez said. 

pérez said that it is feasible for countries to create their own superblocks because they have already started doing similar projects at smaller scales for years. 

“superblocks are replicable in the u.s. and other settings because the underlying ingredients have already proven effective in multiple cities,” pérez said. 

sweden: plant-based school meals curb greenhouse gas emissions

in sweden, patricia eustachio colombo has carried out multiple plant-based food trials in schools over the last five years.

after designing a menu that was not only nutritious and culturally conscious but cost-effective, colombo’s first trial in 2019, which rice and thurston cited in their report, found 40 percent less greenhouse gases emitted and an 11 percent cost reduction from the original meals. 

the study also found that while prioritizing higher plant-based proteins and locally sourced ingredients throughout the study’s four weeks, food waste and attitudes toward the meals were not compromised among the students. the intervention has since been repeated twice and produced similar results.

colombo said that her decision to implement plant-based diets in schools comes from the exposure and education children get from school, which helps to change their attitudes toward healthy, sustainable diets without putting a label on it.

“we know that our diets are usually shaped when we are young, and the diets that we acquire as children tend to stick into adulthood,” colombo said. “we thought that if we want to promote sustainable dietary habits, we should focus on children, and schools are a really good platform for that.”

although colombo said it would be difficult to expand the model without appropriate funding and researchers on the ground guiding cooks and teachers, she believes it can be replicated in other parts of the world, including the united states.

“for these changes to effectively be achieved, you need to have the same attitude and mindset across, from politicians down to principals, teachers, everyone needs to be on the same level and having the same ideas,” colombo said.

the public health angle for climate

using the evidence from pittsburgh, barcelona, and sweden, rice hopes that by motivating people through improved public health that policymakers will be able to help pass regulations that also help the climate and their wallets. 

“each of these interventions have a cost, but there’s also a value to the benefits to be gained and the value of improved health is enormous, especially when you improve productivity, length and life expectancy and avoid hospital admissions, which can be very costly.”