<p>The transition to a low-carbon energy system could simultaneously mitigate carbon emissions, reduce air pollution and protect human health. Although these potential benefits have been widely acknowledged, major questions remain regarding key factors that determine the impacts of energy strategies on health and health disparities, as well as ways to incorporate health benefits into real-world energy decisions. In this Perspective, we summarize the current understanding and analytical framework related to the pollution and health impacts of the energy transition, discuss the analytical challenges and knowledge gaps in assessing and projecting the magnitude and distribution of the pollution and health impacts, and identify plausible entry points to enhance the real-world relevance of health benefits in decision-making about energy systems. The energy transition will affect pollution and health impacts at the global, national and subnational scales, resulting in complex distributional effects across regions and population groups. Although current analytical frameworks are useful to quantify the general patterns of health benefits, they are often insufficient for characterizing distributional effects, quantifying potential trade-offs, and incorporating considerations of deep and interacting uncertainties. Given the complexity of the actors involved and the policymaking landscape, it will be necessary to make knowledge actionable by, for example, establishing a co-production process between researchers and practitioners.</p>