Monitoring & Assessment: Air Publications

LIFE Emerald - Summary of the Socio-Economic Impact of the Project

Summary:

Summary of the Socio-economic impacts of the project

This report summarises the socio-economic impacts of LIFE Emerald, focusing on the following aspects:

• Health impacts: The health impacts of air pollution on the Irish public and associated health care costs.
• Behaviours and behavioural change: Impacts on citizens’ behaviour.

The report outlines some of the main objectives of the LIFE Emerald project – specifically those objectives related to socio-economic impacts:

• Implementation of an air quality modelling system, including:
  • A 3-day air quality forecast – which allows the public to plan their activities, especially benefitting individuals at risk from poor air quality e.g. asthmatics.
  • Hourly updated maps of the Air Quality Index for Health (AQIH) – allowing the public to take short term action.
  • Annual average high-resolution air pollutant maps - providing detailed information to facilitate assessments of air pollution assessments and associated health impacts
• Strengthening awareness raising amongst the public, policymakers, and stakeholders regarding the sources of air pollution, the negative health effects and how effective measures can be implemented.

This summary incorporates findings from a number of key sources:

• The report by ESRI (the Economic & Social Research Institute) on: The healthcare costs of poor air quality in Ireland: An analysis of hospital admissions. (Included as Attachment 1 in the Socio-economic Impacts report.)
• ESRI report: Long-term exposure to PM2.5 air pollution and mental health: a retrospective cohort study in Ireland. (Attachment 2 in the Socio-economic Impacts report.)
• LIFE Emerald Deliverable B4.2: Recommendations for the health service.
• LIFE Emerald Deliverable C2.2: End-of-project review on behavioural change.
• The national survey conducted for the EPA by RED C Marketing and Research in 2024. LIFE Emerald: Environmental Protection Agency Public Attitudes to Air Quality.
• ESRI report: Clean Air Together Dublin: Impact on air quality awareness, attitudes and behaviour.

The report notes that most of the information presented in the report is related to the current levels of socio-economic impacts, since the duration of the LIFE Emerald project was relatively short and significant changes in impacts generally require longer timeframes. Where relevant, any changes in impacts over the lifetime of the project are noted in the report.

The key findings captured in the report include:

• Mortality attributable to poor air quality: The report summarises findings from Deliverable 2 (Recommendations for the Heath Service) – estimates of Premature Deaths and Years of Life Lost from exposure to PM_2.5 and NO₂, based on the high-resolution annual assessment maps for these pollutants developed within the LIFE Emerald project.
• Healthcare costs related to poor air quality: Key findings from the ESRI report on The healthcare costs of poor air quality in Ireland including an estimate, for the period 2016-2019, of the acute healthcare costs of treating five conditions attributable to ambient air pollution (asthma in children, COPD, IHD, stroke, and asthma in adults): Estimated cost €56.0 Million
• Behavioural Change: A summary of the behavioural impacts identified in Deliverable C2.2 including results from the national survey, e.g. increased walking/cycling and use of public transport, and increased use of less smoke solid fuels.