The Ancillary Health Benefits and Costs of Ghg Mitigation: Scope, Scale, and Credibility

Climate change mitigation policies will bring with them ancillary or secondary benefits and costs in addition to those directly associated with avoided temperature changes. The ancillary public health effects of air pollutant emission changes (such as in reductions in particulate matter (PM)) have been the focus of some research attention. However, none of the major economic models of climate impacts has incorporated these ancillary impacts into their analyses. The extent and scale of ancillary impacts will vary with the particular Greenhouse Gas (GHG) mitigation policy chosen. The consideration of ancillary benefits can be of critical importance for devising optimal mitigation strategies. To assist in the assessment of ancillary benefits, this paper examines literature relevant to the assessment of ancillary benefits for public health of GHG policies and offers criteria for evaluating this work.