Agriculture is a major source of air pollution in Europe, with adverse impacts on human health. Having recognized the serious health outcomes, and in direct response to public demand for a cleaner environment, European public policies are aiming to reduce air pollution. This study proposes a shift to more plant-based human diets to help achieve bold reduction targets for air pollution from agriculture. To assess the potential reduction in agricultural air pollution, we combine a large-scale partial equilibrium model for agriculture (CAPRI) with an atmospheric chemistry model (WRF-Chem). The health impacts from improved air quality are summarized as premature mortality rates, which are estimated from simulated changes in annual mean PM2.5 concentrations. We find that a shift to plant-based (flexitarian) diets would reduce ammonia emissions by 33% in the European Union (EU), generating significant co-benefits for air quality and human health. The economic benefits from improved human health would also largely mitigate the economic losses in the agricultural sector (39% in the EU and 49% in Europe as a whole). Our results suggest that, by shifting to plant-based human diets, European agriculture could significantly contribute to the targets in the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.

农业是欧洲空气污染的主要来源，对人类健康产生不利影响。认识到严重的健康后果，并直接响应公众对更清洁环境的需求，欧洲公共政策的目标是减少空气污染。这项研究建议转向更多以植物为基础的人类饮食，以帮助实现减少农业空气污染的大胆目标。为了评估农业空气污染的潜在减少，我们将大规模农业局部平衡模型 (CAPRI) 与大气化学模型 (WRF-Chem) 相结合。空气质量改善对健康的影响概括为过早死亡率，这是根据年平均 PM2.5 浓度的模拟变化估算的。我们发现，向植物性（弹性素食）饮食的转变将使欧盟 (EU) 的氨排放量减少 33%，从而为空气质量和人类健康带来显着的协同效益。改善人类健康带来的经济效益也将在很大程度上减轻农业部门的经济损失（欧盟为 39%，整个欧洲为 49%）。我们的结果表明，通过转向以植物为基础的人类饮食，欧洲农业可以为欧盟零污染行动计划中的目标做出重大贡献。