Health and climate change: complex problems with co-benefits - Health Foundation
This report discusses the interrelationship between climate change and health in the UK, and the opportunities for health offered by action on climate change.
The Health Foundation are an independent charitable organisation, with focus on research and analysis of the wider factors that shape our health and drive inequalities. They aim to use evidence and data to improve policy and support services to innovate and improve.
This report discusses the interrelationship between climate change and health in the UK, highlighting how progress has been made in positioning climate change as an issue requiring action at many levels and across sectors, whereas health is still predominantly seen as the business of health care services and health departments and professionals, and is understood by the public as an individual rather than a systemic issue.
The report explores the evidence for actions that have co-benefits for health and the environment, to draw out the opportunities for health offered by action on climate change in order to secure whole-system change.
Health inequalities and climate change resources - RCPCH
This tool provides a useful understanding of how climate change impacts on children and young people’s health within the UK context, including evidence of how climate change exacerbates child health inequalities.
RCPCH are the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the membership body for paediatricians in the UK and around the world.
These resources provide a useful understanding of how climate change impacts on children and young people’s health within the UK context, including evidence of how climate change exacerbates child health inequalities, discussing unequal exposure to its effects, capacity to adapt, food security and eco distress.
Child health inequalities and climate change topic page on the RCPCH website
Develop your understanding - outlines the evidence: how climate change impacts on children and young people’s health in the UK, and and how it exacerbates health inequalities.
Advocate for action - provides encouragement to try to influence decisions within systems and institutions, exploring how we can listen to different points of view and collectively identify solutions.
Preserving the world for future generations report - gives insight into how children and young people - in the UK and internationally - perceive and understand climate change.
Climate Resilient, Healthy and Equitable Places - joint briefing
This joint briefing from Adaptation Scotland, Public Health Scotland and the Improvement Service discusses what can be done to build climate resilience at a local level in a way that also benefits health.
The Adaptation Scotland programme worked with Public Health Scotland (PHS) and the Improvement Service to develop this introductory briefing on working together to build climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places.
It sets out how our changing climate can affect health and health inequalities both directly, and indirectly through impacts on housing, transport, and access to goods and services, which are the building blocks of good health.
The briefing discusses what can be done to take a preventative approach to building climate resilience at a local level in a way that also benefits health. It starts with understanding how the challenges are interconnected, adopting a whole system approach and working together to identify actions that address the underlying causes and includes a range of tools and case studies to support this.
The Adaptation Scotland programme provides advice and support to help organisations, businesses and communities prepare for, and build resilience to climate change impacts.
The Improvement Service provides improvement support to help Scottish councils provide effective community leadership, strong local governance and deliver high quality, efficient local services.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) is an NHS Board and the lead national body for improving and protecting the health and wellbeing of all of Scotland’s people.
Vive - Transition Network and SCCAN
Vive is a free online space for those interested in community-led climate action.
Transition groups bring local people together; uniting communities for thriving futures. SCCAN has been working with Transition to share and support this mission in Scotland.
Vive is a free online space for those interested in community-led climate action. Vive enables connection with others working on similar issues, from hearing what other groups are doing, and drawing on the collective knowledge and inspiration in the movement.
Vive is an ethical online space that uses open source software, is powered by green energy and does not have adverts or algorithms. There are also two Scotland spaces - one a social space and the other where people share news, events, funding and other opportunities.
Explore the Vive platform and register to join
Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience (SAFER) - Climate Majority Project
Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience (SAFER) is the campaign for community-led action in a time of global crises: the work of looking ahead, getting ready, and taking care of each other as our world changes.
The Climate Majority Project works to encourage citizens at all levels of society to recognise their power and take meaningful, effective climate action wherever we can make the biggest difference.
Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience (SAFER) is the campaign for community-led action in a time of global crises: the work of looking ahead, getting ready, and taking care of each other as our world changes.
The Climate Majority Project also runs the Climate Courage Schools campaign supporting schools and empowering students, with the aim of integrating emotional literacy with climate education.
Explore the Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience (SAFER)
Preparing for Climate Impacts - SCCAN
SCCAN’s adaptation work focuses on increasing community resilience and knowledge of how to respond to climate change.
SCCAN’s adaptation work focuses on increasing community resilience and knowledge of how to respond to climate change. SCCAN shares the latest adaptation news in Scotland in their monthly newsletter.
The Preparing for Climate Impacts page gives an overview of adaptation in general, ways in which individuals and organisations can support their local community in adaptation action, and how to maintain individual and community wellbeing. SCCAN also invites people to share their knowledge so we can work together to help our communities prepare.
Visit the SCCAN Preparing for Climate Impacts webpage.
Climate change: health effects in the UK - UK Health Security Agency
This is the fourth Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK report, which provides evidence, analysis and recommendations based on climate change projections for the UK.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) perform a similar function to the one previously provided by Public Health England, providing scientific and operational leadership, and working with local, national and international partners to protect the public’s health and build the nation’s health security capability.
This is the fourth Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK report, which provides evidence, analysis and recommendations based on climate change projections for the UK. This version of the report was updated in 2024.
The report looks at why the climate crisis is a health crisis, outlining the co-benefits and opportunities in tackling both together. It overviews the substantial and growing evidence that climate impact will not be equally distributed, and identifies future research gaps.
World report on social determinants of health equity - World Health Organisation
The report aims to inform global, national and local policymaking, providing a foundation for coordinated action and investment in social determinants of health equity.
The WHO are a global organisation, with more than 8000 professionals as members, including leading public health experts, doctors, epidemiologists, and scientists. They coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies, promote well-being, prevent disease and expand access to health care.
This report aims to inform global, national and local policymaking, providing a foundation for coordinated action and investment in social determinants of health equity. It includes 14 specific recommendations for action within four action areas. Country examples throughout the report showcase actions and diverse strategies for actioning the report’s recommendations across different contexts.
The report was developed with input from scientific and policy advisory groups, commissioned papers and evidence reviews, extensive internal contributions across the three levels of WHO, and consultation with Member States through the Executive Board and World Health Assembly.
Britain Talks Climate and Nature - Climate Outreach
This in-depth report looks at how people in Britain think and feel about climate and nature and the strategic implications for policy and communication.
Climate Outreach are a British charity with focused expertise on public engagement with climate change.
The Britain Talks Climate and Nature in-depth report looks at how people in Britain think and feel about climate and nature and the strategic implications for policy and communication.
Climate Outreach also offers support on how organisations can tell a different climate story, and have produced a communications toolkit with advice on how to talk about different issues, including net zero and climate adaptation. They also have research and advice, workshops and training, and have a bank of image resources called Climate Visuals.
Explore the Britain Talks Climate and Nature Report
See the communications toolkit
And there’s more on communicating climate in reports, blog and and audiovisual content on their resources page.
Climate change and sustainability strategic plan - Public Health Scotland
The plan sets out 41 high-level actions that PHS will take from 2023 through to 2026, and how PHS will support delivery of NHSScotland’s climate emergency and sustainability strategy.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) is an NHS Board and the lead national body for improving and protecting the health and wellbeing of all of Scotland’s people. PHS work with partners to reduce the impacts of the changing climate on health and health inequalities and find ‘win-win’ co-benefits for population health, wellbeing and equity for climate action.
The plan sets out 41 high-level actions that PHS will take from 2023 through to 2026, and how PHS will support delivery of NHSScotland’s climate emergency and sustainability strategy.
The strategy aims to place population health and equity at the heart of Scotland's response to the climate emergency. The first half of the plan describes the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on population health and equity. The second half outlines a range of actions that will help to build climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places.
PHS has also published a report with the findings from a health impact assessment scoping exercise of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan 3 (2024–2029). The exercise used workshops which explored potential positive, negative and uncertain health impacts of the proposed policies and actions.
Public Health Scotland has more on climate and population health in their climate emergency resource pages.
Health inequalities and the social determinants of health - CHEX
This website resource provides an overview of the social determinants of health, which are all the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes.
CHEX (Community Health Exchange) are part of SCDC and work with community-led health organisations, Local Authorities, the NHS and Scottish Government to promote community-led health as a way to tackle Scotland’s persistent health inequalities.
This website resource provides an overview of the social determinants of health, which are all the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. It then discusses how they relate to and affect health inequalities and outlines the two key measures we use when we talk about health inequalities; life expectancy and healthy life expectancy.
CHEX has a range of online resources on health inequalities and community development approaches to health, as well as examples, commentary and information on different community health topics.