Executive summary

Climate change poses serious, and potentially catastrophic, threats to human health and to the natural systems that underpin civilisation, with increasing impacts witnessed on a global scale in recent years. Major efforts are needed both to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the near term, without which consequences could increasingly be dangerous for the UK and globally. However, if the drivers and impacts of climate change are effectively addressed, there are substantial opportunities for climate action to benefit human health, via evidenced, coordinated, and equitable strategies across multiple sectors. This report addresses the co-benefits from action on climate change and makes four headline recommendations.

Climate change has complex impacts on people’s health. The impacts of climate change on health fall into three broad categories: i) direct impacts such as heat and extreme events; ii) indirect impacts via eco-systems which include impacts on global food supplies and changes in vector-borne disease transmission; and iii) indirect impacts via socio-economic systems exemplified by increased poverty and intensification of existing inequalities and migration (footnote 1) (footnote 2).

The magnitude of these impacts will increase at least until the climate is stabilised, and their severity will depend on the effectiveness of climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Drivers of climate change, particularly the air pollutants that are co-emitted with greenhouse gases (GHGs) from fossil fuel combustion, have negative impacts on human health. Well-targeted actions could simultaneously benefit human health and accelerate progress towards the UK target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 and to the global goal of the Paris Climate Agreement to keep the mean temperature increase to well under 2°C.

This report summarises the evidence of how climate change mitigation actions could promote human health in the near term, through ‘co-benefits’. It also highlights where there may be trade-offs and potential unintended consequences of climate action on human health. Such unintended consequences include exporting negative health impacts to other countries and exacerbating inequalities but can be addressed by well-designed policies. We also highlight current gaps in knowledge and associated research priorities which will be important in addressing these challenges.

The main health co-benefits of climate mitigation policies stem from actions to phase out fossil fuels, develop more energy-efficient housing, promote healthier dietary choices, and encourage more active travel (walking and cycling). There are also indirect co-benefits including those that can accrue from providing healthy and productive employment opportunities and greater access to nature. Evidence suggests that the value of the health benefits of climate change mitigation has the potential to offset most of the initial mitigation costs.

While the UK has scaled up its efforts to reduce emissions, including through the Delivering a Net Zero NHS strategy, the pace of global climate change will mean that climate mitigation and adaption will be an increasingly important focus for policy and practice across all sectors. Moreover, bringing in the advantages for health in the climate change narrative could further increase public support and policymakers’ ambition for climate action.