Where to Plant Trees? Designing Net-Zero Industrial Landscapes that Promote Public Health

To contribute to the development of holistic sustainability strategies, we present a computational sustainable design framework for techno-ecological systems that integrates ecosystem coservices into the pursuit of carbon neutrality and net-positive industries. Public-health impacts of land-based pollution mitigation strategies are explicitly modeled and implemented within an integrated optimization framework, enabling the simultaneous evaluation of climate mitigation and local health outcomes. This nature-positive and people-positive approach identifies where land-use changes (LUCs) can most effectively reduce pollutant exposure and health-related incidences, providing practical guidance for prioritizing locations for nature-based solutions. A power generation case study is presented to compare this health-based social benefit approach with conventional and prior techno-ecological approaches. Highlighting LUC spatial importance, our study shows that 97% of averted mortalities may be lost between best- and worst-case scenarios. Our results suggest that cost-benefit analyses of land-use changes focused solely on carbon uptake overlook substantial opportunities to simultaneously improve public health. This approach highlights increased economic value for ecological restoration and supports more informed decision-making and investment in nature-based strategies that address climate change while delivering local benefits to ecosystems and communities.