Supporting rapid decarbonisation to improve health and tackle climate change

UCL Bartlett research has helped place health at the centre of government’s understanding of climate through its contribution to ‘The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change'.

Disseminated across 54 countries and reaching an estimated audience of 1.8 billion, this highly influential publication has encouraged fossil fuel divestment of international associations totalling close to $100 million, and has guided the NHS net zero emissions strategy and implementation plan. 

The health implications of climate change 

A rapidly changing climate has dire implications for every aspect of human health. Bartlett researchers are helping illustrate these links and highlight the health benefits of effective responses to climate change. 

For example, Bartlett research has shown that improved energy efficiency in buildings can not only help reduce energy usage, but also provide health benefits such as diminishing asthma dust mites, reducing air contaminants, and decreasing temperature-related excess deaths.  

Collaborating with experts at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Bartlett researchers have combined individual energy efficiency mechanisms into models which can help plan low carbon transitions and maximise health co-benefits.  

Identifying, tracking and monitoring key indicators 

This expertise has allowed these researchers to play a leading role in a global effort to track progress in tackling climate change and its effect on health through The Lancet publications.  

Most notably, in 2015 The Lancet commissioned a special issue of the journal called The Countdown which is published each year just ahead of the UN climate negotiations.

The Countdown presents original analysis by more than 80 authors from over 35 academic and UN institutions and identifies, tracks and monitors key indicators of health and climate change. Bartlett researchers have held key strategic roles and have been centrally involved in writing and preparing this report since 2015.  

Influencing investment decisions 

The Countdown has had wide-reaching impact. One of the indicators tracked by the publication is divestment from fossil fuels. Latest analysis shows that at least 23 national and international health associations, colleges and insurers with a total asset value estimated at $42 billion have voted to cease fossil fuel investments since 2014, with many being directly inspired by evidence from the Countdown.  

Evidence presented in the Countdown also inspired the World Bank to engage in funding health and climate change research. Over three years, the bank created a new approach to screening its health investments for climate change impact, which resulted in an increase in its climate-sensitive health investments by 31%, corresponding to over £1 billion more invested.  

Delivering a net zero NHS  

This evidence has also influenced the NHS. The 2019 Lancet Countdown concluded that the health-care sector is responsible for about 4.6% of global emissions and that air pollution driven by fossil fuel burning was leading to almost 3 million global deaths. These stark figures led the NHS to approach the Countdown for independent advice on pathways to net zero.

The resultant report, ‘Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service’, co-written by Bartlett researchers lays out modelling and analytics underpinning the latest NHS carbon footprint, trajectories to net zero, and the interventions required to achieve that ambition. 

The NHS now has an ambition to reduce both emissions it directly controls, and those it can influence through its supply chains by 80% by 2040 and 2045 respectively. This has huge significance given the NHS’s role as England’s largest employer (1.3 million staff) which currently accounts for 4% of the country’s carbon footprint. 

The Countdown continues to have significant global reach, with the 2020 Countdown Report being ranked in the top ten climate change articles most featured in the media.

It has influenced the policies of global health institutions and the NHS, and in turn, is contributing to a global rethink of the relationship between health and climate change.  

Links

• Professor Tadj Oreszczyn’s academic profile 
• UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources 
• The Bartlett, UCL Faculty of the Built Environment 
• The Bartlett REF 2021 

Image 

• Image credit: Narcisa Aciko / Pixabay