Health is inextricably linked to climate change. Global climate variations have influenced human health. A clean environment is essential for human health and wellbeing. On the other hand, unrestrained and uncontrolled development contributes to environmental health issues because it overexploits the natural environment and its resources. Environmental health challenges spread across country borders, making them worldwide issues. The consequences can be immediate and chronic, including water-borne infections caused by inadequate sanitation or skin cancer caused by exposure to arsenic in groundwater or excessive UV radiation (due to depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer). Because of technological activity, environmental degradation has started in emerging nations and the growth of air emission sources such as automobile vehicles (1–5). Most of these casualties (3.3 million and 2.6 million, respectively) are found in Asia, in which indoor air pollution kills 4.3 million individuals and air temperature pollutants kill 3.7 million. As a result, it is very important to identify the problem, notably its hazardous consequences on human health, and provide policy suggestions for saving the environment and human health.

Growing environmental pollution has caused major concern to population lives since the liberalization and deregulation, in tandem with rapid economic expansion (6–12). Wildfires in Australia and California, China's worst floods in decades, the first-ever heatwave in Antarctica with rising temperatures above 20 °C, microplastic discovered in Antarctic ice, and crop destruction by locusts swarming across parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia occurred in the year 2020 alone. Habitat loss is another important environmental problem, and it is rapidly being caused by land clearance for agriculture cash crops, e.g., fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, and palm oil, making agriculture the largest driver of deforestation (13). Poor air quality is a third important environmental catastrophe. According to world health organization (WHO) estimates, 4.2 to 7 million people die each year due to air pollution worldwide (14). According to research by the EU's environmental protection agency, roughly 400,000 people died in the EU in 2012. According to UNICEF estimates, 258,000 people died in Africa in 2017 because of air pollution. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have focused their attention on the impact of air pollution on viral movement (15–20). Recent studies have also found a link between air pollution and COVID-19 pandemic related deaths and between air pollutants and human disease transmission (15, 18). According to researchers, if quick legislative and regulatory steps at the global and national levels are not implemented, five new pandemic illnesses will arise annually (21). They focus on global politicians, whose recommendations on long-term economic developments are crucial and can significantly prevent additional environmental harm.

Good governance, also referred to as green governance, gained some traction following the Stockholm United Nations Conference on Human Development in 1972, establishing the United Nations Environment Programme (22). As a result, policies on environmental governance at the international and national levels have become increasingly popular. Furthermore, we are interested in the influence that formal state-imposed laws and regulations may have on this research's economic activity and environmental quality. In addition, a lack of enforcement or the evasion of current legislation (for example, by outsourcing) may lead the activity to be illegal to shift from the formal (more regulated) sector to the informal (less regulated) sector. As a result, our second indicator of registration and licensing links to more direct governance indicators, such as corporate governance, economic stability, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability.

The article examines the link between the administration and ecological sustainability and perhaps develops policy recommendations for states to preserve and enhance environmental consequences. The importance of this study is shown by the positive (or negative) effects of excellent (or bad) policy in terms of environmental quality. Non-compliance must be punished under better-governed policies and processes. Multiple voluntary environmental contracts have frequently resulted in suboptimal effects on the environment. As a result, the impact of governance on environmental consequences must be investigated. The study contributes to understanding the impact of governance on environmental quality in various areas.

This review has tried to summarize the environmental pollution, governance problems, and appropriate management. As a result, health, and environmental experts, notably policymakers, emergency physicians, and other clinicians concerned with air quality and catastrophes, will find it beneficial. This study also examines the origins of pollutants in the environment, the diseases caused by environmental pollutants and proposes feasible solutions that may benefit environmental legislators and decision-makers. The following is how the rest of the article is organized: Section Interconnected Literature Review explores the interconnected literature review about how good and bad governance can affect environmental quality and human health? Section Environmental Quality vs. Human Health examines the quality of the outdoor and indoor environments and how they affect human health. Section Empirical Results explains that climate change and health is emerging challenge for the world. Section Discussion On Climate Change, Governance, and Public Health will discuss the policy implications for human health and better environmental outcomes.

The new civilized world's primary concern is environmental quality, and it has a big toxic impact on people's health and society. It has a wide range of pollution sources, including automobiles, responsible for the majority of pollution. The six principal contaminants are particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, Sulfur oxides, oxides of nitrogen, and lead. People are harmed by toxicants floating in the air, including respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, neuropsychiatric issues, eye irritation, skin diseases, and long-term chronic diseases like cancer (23). Pollution comes in many forms, from single cigarettes to natural disasters such as volcanic activity and enormous emissions from automobiles (24). The long-term impacts of environmental damage on the onset of diseases such as lung problems and inflammatory disorders, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer are well documented (25), but air pollution is linked to the deaths of millions of people worldwide every year (26). Another study discovered a link between male infertility and air pollutants (27).

Although numerous studies have identified intriguing correlations of health disparities, environmental and population health studies are still mainly distinct domains. As a result, little is known about the risk attributable to social and environmental variables or how these hazards may interact to generate synergistically or ongoing costs to the health of the populations. There is a need to make environmental policies that lift the environmental cleaning for better human health and a healthy society.

The problem of environmental racism is a specific form of environmental injustice. “Environmental racism” is defined as “racial discrimination in environmental policymaking, regulation and enforcement agencies, the purposeful attacking of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in our communities, and the history of excluding people of color from the governance of ecology movements.” Because of economic disempowerment and policies, no community is forced to bear a disproportionate share of the negative human health and the environment consequences of pollution or environmental effects due to industrial, state, city, and commercial projects or the implementation of federal, state, local, and tribal programmers. Table 1 summarizes the studies on government policies and their environmental impact and human and animal health.

An increasing number of individuals and organizations are becoming concerned about environmental protection. According to the experience of industrialized nations such as the United States and the European Union, a comprehensive environmental public administration comprises the government and the public community (39). In several other nations, such as China, public engagement has lately emerged as an emergent topic for environmental governance. The Chinese government has already defended the public's legitimate environmental rights by establishing environmental protection hotlines and mailboxes.

The relationship between income, energy, and carbon emissions has received a lot of attention in the literature, but most empirical research hasn't looked at the influence of the real estate market on their models. Non-renewable sources of energy, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, have been shown to increase Emissions of CO₂ in past studies (40–43). Renewable energy, on the other hand, can help to reduce pollution. According to another study, renewable energy use adds considerably to CO₂ emissions, whereas real income promotes short-term and medium-haul environmental destruction (44, 45). This study aims to add to the empirical literature by looking at the impact of insurance market development on environmental degradation.

Another study found that economic development and renewable and non-renewable energy usage have a beneficial impact on CO₂ emissions (46). Additionally, this research shows that the actual estate market in Turkey has a detrimental impact on reducing carbon emissions. Another study uses estimating approaches to disclose UAE officials' major findings and policy recommendations (47). This study also includes a substantial amount of empirical evidence and financial development (48, 49).

External air temperature, daily temperature range (DTR), temperature extremes, and other factors influence the external environment (both in and out of house and offices). According to studies on the relationships between temperature and human health, the effect of ambient temperature on public health produces cardiovascular problems (Figure 1). Additionally, because the modern lifestyle necessitates spending a lot of time indoors (at home and work), the indoor environment is critical to human health. Despite this, studies on the impact of the interior environment on human health are rare. According to certain studies, an undesirable interior atmosphere might cause serious health problems in youngsters. Cardiovascular and pulmonary death rates were higher than other ailments: digestive system problems, infectious infections, and premature birth. The impacts of indoor and outdoor settings on human health are summarized in Table 2.

In terms of the outdoor environment, epidemiological researchers have found that ambient air temperature changes are linked to spikes in cardiovascular disease morbidity (50–52) and death (6, 84). Previously researchers suggested that every 1°C increase/decrease in temperature above/below-specified points of reference increases the risk of heart disease (85, 86). Several researchers used maximum and minimum standard temperature ranges to investigate the health impacts of severe high and low temperatures (63). Luo et al. (87) also found that the relationships between PM2.5 and cardiovascular morbidity were more responsive to different temperature and relative humidity modifications. There is significant proof that there is a relationship between surrounding temperature and the growth of respiratory disorders such as COPD, bronchitis, upper respiratory infection, and asthma. The increased mortality of respiratory symptoms is linked to a susceptibility to unfavorable ambient air temperatures (53, 88). The combined impacts of meteorological variables may have an impact on respiratory illnesses. For example, PM2.5 and PM10 can lead to 17.30 and 14.72% of total COPD hospitalizations, respectively, on days with surprisingly low air temperatures (89). Environmental variables have also been connected to the occurrence of gastrointestinal system disorders (56), endocrine and metabolic mortality (57), hemorrhagic stroke, kidney pain, diabetic fatalities (58), and renal syndrome (59). The temperature has been demonstrated to substantially impact gastrointestinal system illnesses in several investigations. Infectious illnesses have been associated with environmental variables in studies (60, 61, 63). Dengue fever has increased by 11.9 and 9.9% for every 1°C rise in the highest and lowest air temperatures. Humidity levels reaching 78.9% were adversely related to dengue fever probability (90).

Home air quality is connected to outside environmental quality to some extent. People in cities devote around 90% of their time indoors (91). As a result, the indoor environment has a significant impact on human health. The physical parameters of indoor air temperature and humidity are linked to the concentrations of outside air contaminants. Variations in indoor temperature and relative humidity are likely to produce headaches, chest tightness, dry skin, and other symptoms in an indoor weather pattern. The influence of interior development on the environment has received significantly less attention than the influence of the outer environment. As a result, we choose the indoor and outdoor quality of the environment that may affect public health.

Most of the researcher's influence on indoor activities on the environment has taken place in large cities. A thorough analysis indicated that access indoors lower ambient temperature and humidity levels in the winter, and moisture in the summer might impact people's health (73). The wetness indices were favorable to dry and humid air (76). High levels of indoor PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in-home dust were identified as potential health risks for youngsters (82). Indoor remodeling, use of gasoline for cooking, keeping pets, and living with people who smoke all influence public health and Indoor climatic elements and air quality (77). Yu et al. (83) also found that burning solid fuels inside increases the risk of cardiovascular death. Solid fuels emit various airborne pollutants, primarily particulate matter (PM).

Ambient temperature, moisture, and humidity are important elements for human and animal health in the indoor environment, specifically for the sensitive group (i.e., children). For example, children's lung and respiratory issues are caused by indoor air quality (i.e., temperature ranges and moisture content) (73). Respiratory problems are caused by household air pollution (19, 92). Allergies and asthma in children are caused by indoor mold and humidity (76); and indoor exposure to certain other environmental factors such as restoration work, preparing food, owning animals cause serious diseases to public health (77, 78).

This study provides a detailed review of human health, environmental quality, and governance quality. In addition, the study conducts an empirical analysis using the annual data of low-income countries from 1996 to 2020. The study reports novel solutions regarding the influence of economic, non-economic, and governance indicators on human health. Therefore, according to the existing literature, this study adopts six variables' data. This study uses the Incidence of Malaria (MI) as a proxy for human health. However, the explanatory variables include greenhouse gas emissions captured by metric tons of CO_2. For economic performance, we use the economic growth factor indicated via gross domestic growth (GDP), governance or institutional quality is captured by regulatory quality (RQ), and government effectiveness. Besides, Domestic general government health expenditures (GHE) are also examined in the empirical model (18). Data for these variables are obtained from multiple sources, covering the 1996Q1 to 2020Q4 period for low-income countries¹. The primary reason for adopting the small sample is the unavailability of data, where the available data on the World Bank site is only for 24 years. The variables and data specifications are reported in Table 3.

Following the recent study of Farooq et al. (93), this study constructed the following empirical model.

The empirical models demonstrate that GHG_i, GDP_i, RQ_i, GHE_i, and GE_i are the functions of MI_i. However, the empirical models adopt the following econometric form for empirical examination:

Where γ′s are the coefficients to be estimated and γ₀ is the intercept in both the equations. Whereas I is the subscript that shows the cross-section of countries. Besides, the “ε” is the random error term of the regression model. It is important to mention that low-income countries' data is used as time-series data. For empirical analysis, the study used unit root testing, FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR regressions.

Because of the critical role of governance in the health community, effective governance has been a hot issue in public sector management in recent years. According to studies and data worldwide, “good governance” is one of the most critical characteristics in emerging countries. The cornerstone of progress is so-called good governance. The impact mechanism of government environmental regulation, public engagement, and their coordinated influence on public health are examined in this study. The study used the data of low-income countries from 1996Q1 to 2020Q4 and reported interesting empirical findings. For empirical analysis, the study used unit root testing, FMOLS, and DOLS regressions. The empirical findings reported few interesting findings. An important finding of this paper revealed that governance quality and environmental pollution in low-income countries is the main culprit for health issues. It shows a more than the urgent need for policymakers and government institutions to design novel policies and reforms for mitigating pollutant emissions and improving the governance quality. Above that, the results can motivate the government to enhance the environmental, governmental system, which benefits for global health.

The best adaptation techniques accomplish many goals. Improvements to key infrastructure might aid global warming adaptation. Vegetation, building siting, white roofs, and architectural design, for example, can help to lessen the urban heat island effect and climate control power consumption. According to recent research, air conditioning waste heat may warm outdoor air by more than 1°C, reducing the requirement for air conditioning strongly impacts urban heat islands (114).

Every approach to reducing carbon emissions should provide a risk assessment to ensure that potential benefits and dangers are considered in estimated costs and unintended effects. Government policies are crucial in recognizing and communicating the health dangers of climate change and the benefits of using fewer fossil fuels. Health professionals play a unique role in policy concerns such as energy, housing, transportation, urban planning, agriculture, food systems, and more. Environmental awareness needs to be promoted, pollution needs to be handled, and future environmental quality needs to be controlled.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

HC and LZ: conceptualization and writing—original draft preparation. HC: methodology, supervision, and funding acquisition. LZ: software. LZ, YL, and HC: validation. YY: formal analysis, resources, and project administration. YL: investigation. YY, LZ, and HC: data curation. HC and YY: writing—review and editing. YL and LZ: visualization. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by the National Social Science Fund General Project of China (No. 19BGL092), Innovation Strategy Research Project of Fujian Province (No. 2021R0156), GF Securities Social Welfare Foundation Teaching and Research Fund for National Finance and Mesoeconomics.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.