Climate, Clean Air, and Health: Action That Pays Off Now

Hosted by Baroness Sheehan, PSE Healthy Energy, Wellcome Trust, Climate and Clean Air Coalition

Evidence reinforces the urgency of integrated action. Reducing air pollution and climate pollutants is not only an environmental imperative but a public health and economic priority that sits squarely within the mandate of governments and legislatures. A recent study from PSE Healthy Energy shows that commonly occurring gas leaks from gas appliances inside of European homes and from distribution pipeline infrastructure outdoors can cause benzene exposures that pose significant risks to human health. Actions to reduce methane emissions can deliver immediate and localized public health benefits, in addition to climate gains.

For parliamentarians, this agenda presents a unique opportunity. Policies that cut emissions of super pollutants such as methane and black carbon can deliver immediate benefits within political cycles, including cleaner air, reduced healthcare costs, and improved productivity, while also contributing to climate mitigation targets, all at once.

Despite being interrelated, climate, air quality, and health policies are often developed in silos, slowing implementation and limiting their overall impact. This high-level roundtable will bring together parliamentarians, international organizations, and philanthropic leaders to explore how climate, air quality, and health priorities can be advanced together through policy alignment, legislative action, and targeted investment.

The roundtable will aim to:

• Educate on the state of the science on methane, air quality and human health risks
• Highlight the role of parliamentarians in advancing integrated climate, clean air, and health action through legislation, oversight, and budget allocation
• Identify policy and regulatory levers to accelerate super pollutant mitigation across key sectors, particularly in areas such as energy, waste, and agriculture
• Strengthen the air quality and human health case for action, drawing on emerging evidence from PSE Healthy Energy on the co-emission of hazardous pollutants such as benzene from methane-emitting sources, and the implications for regulatory standards, monitoring, and enforcement
• Inform policy and investment decisions through the forthcoming CCAC–UNEP Integrated Economic Assessment of Climate and Clean Air (July 2026), which highlights the economic and health returns of rapid, integrated action
• Promote cross-sectoral governance approaches, breaking down silos between environment, health, and economic policy
• Build political momentum ahead of COP31, positioning air quality and health action as a catalytic lens for urgent super pollutant mitigation