Climate change and air pollution in an urbanized area: health and socio-economic impact of mitigation scenarios – ClimAir

Climate change and air pollution are two related issues. The novelty of ClimAir is to consider these issues in a combined way at the urban scale, that of Grenoble, during this century.
The objective is to evaluate scenarios for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution, as well as scenarios for adapting to climate change that preserve air quality. Another objective is to provide recommendations to local authorities for consistent public policies in terms of pollution and GHG emissions.
The local impact of climate change for the 21st century is first estimated using an original chain of numerical models based on the latest generation of climate models.
Policies for mitigating GHG emissions and air pollution, as well as for adapting to climate change, are then studied using an interdisciplinary approach. Scenarios are considered for (i) emissions from mobility and the residential sector, (ii) adaptation measures through urban planning, such as greening the city. The impact of these scenarios on GHGs, air quality and health and their economic costs and benefits are assessed and quantified. ClimAir also deals with the social impact of these scenarios, through the resulting choice of residential location, the resulting social inequalities, and their impact on the most vulnerable population.
The consortium brings together partners with complementary skills in the fields of climate, atmospheric sciences, urban air quality, epidemiology and environmental economics, social sciences, in particular socio-spatial inequalities, and geography. The collaboration builds on the experience gained from past and ongoing projects. It also includes international researchers (UK and Spain).
The project is organized in six work packages (WP). WP1 provides climate projections for the 21st century, with a focus on three periods centered on 2030, 2050 and 2070. A downscaling is performed towards the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region in WP2, and towards the Grenoble agglomeration in WP3. WP2 is dedicated to air pollution mitigation scenarios. WP3 considers heat waves and the effect of mitigation scenarios on temperature and air pollution. The aim of WP4 is to quantitatively estimate the impact of these scenarios on health. WP5 is devoted to a cost-benefit analysis of the scenarios, their social and economic impact and the impact on residential location choices. WP6 loops through feedback scenarios from WP5 to the other WPs, such as the definition and study of scenarios aiming at reducing the social inequalities that will be highlighted by WP5. The health and economic impact of these feedback scenarios will also be addressed. An annual meeting will be organized with local decision-makers in a co-construction approach of policies for the urban area.
Among the expected results is the joint determination of adaptation measures to climate change during heat wave periods that preserve air quality. The health impact of each scenario (mitigation or adaptation) will be determined in terms of mortality and morbidity, with a particular focus on vulnerable people. New socio-economic results on the impact of air pollution and climate change and related policies on residential location choices will be obtained.
In addition to specialized scientific publications, the results will be disseminated to a wide audience through various initiatives: courses, an interdisciplinary summer school, a science café, and interventions in the media.