Policymakers, advocates, researchers and others around the world are increasingly considering how national policies can best advance climate change solutions that protect health, as well as health solutions that protect the climate.
Pursuing health and climate agendas in an integrated way raises important questions regarding to the extent to which, and ways in which integration is currently occurring, and approaches through which climate and health policy could be more effectively integrated in future.
Part of a project funded by the Wellcome Trust, and in partnership with researchers from six other countries/regions, this new report focuses on national policy in the United Kingdom. It has been written by researchers based at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
It will be followed by reports covering Brazil, the Caribbean, Germany, India, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, as well as an international synthesis report, due in February 2025.
Opportunities for improving outputs and outcomes
The study examines the integration of climate and health policies in the UK based on 42 expert interviews. Despite widespread acknowledgment of the growing significance and scale of climate change impacts on human health, it finds that practical policy integration remains limited due to siloed decision-making, resource constraints, and short-term thinking, amongst other issues.
Opportunities for improvement include emphasising co-benefits, leveraging the scale of the NHS, and learning from approaches in the devolved governments. Strategies to deliver improved policies and outcomes involve enhanced cross-sector coordination, dedicated resources, development and use of more fit-for-purpose evidence, and enhanced community engagement. A better resourced, holistic approach that addresses wider determinants of health and prioritises vulnerable populations could significantly improve UK climate and health policy outputs and outcomes.
These findings serve as a reminder that the government’s forthcoming Ten Year plan for health needs to recognise well-established existing legal commitments to emission reduction and greater preparedness for worsening climate impacts. It should also consider how a focus on illness prevention, pursued within the healthcare system and in wider public health measures, can be implemented most effectively.
Download the full report or read below:
Advancing Climate Change and Health Policies in the UK