Mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution requires added efforts amid rapid clean-energy transitions in Chinese cities

Clean energy transitions are known to reduce carbon emissions, but their co-benefits for atmospheric heavy metal pollution remain unclear. Here we assess this co-benefit using data from 331 Chinese cities. We find that from 2015 to 2020, the transition reduced atmospheric heavy metal emissions by 258 tonnes, accounting for 6.4% of total reductions during this period. Under a business-as-usual scenario extending to 2060, future reductions could reach 520 tonnes (10.2%). Additional efforts, such as a faster clean energy transition and a radical combination of economic and social pathways, reductions could increase to 1,650 tonnes (30.4%). The co-benefit effects vary across city types, with non-resource-based and comprehensive type I cities showing larger reductions (17.65% and 15.68%) than those in service-based and comprehensive type II cities (7.05% and 8.33%). These findings help monitor clean energy transitions and identify pathways for reducing atmospheric heavy metal pollution in Chinese cities. Clean energy transitions have reduced atmospheric heavy metal pollution in Chinese cities and future efforts can create further reductions of 10.25% to 30.38% according to downscaled data and emissions trajectories modelling.