Climate Change and Health Policy Workshops

Climate change is the greatest threat to health of this century, making evidence-based policy to protect health while responding to climate change essential.

About

---

Climate change is the greatest threat to health of this century, making evidence-based policy to protect health while responding to climate change essential. This project aimed to support the development of evidence-based policy in climate change and health by encouraging exchange of knowledge and expertise between UCL researchers and UK local and national policy makers.  

In fostering engagement between researchers and policy makers, the project worked to identify priority areas for action and key evidence gaps in climate change and health and explored approaches to break down silos between disciplines and actors currently hindering effective action.  

Headline findings 

• Local government plays a leading role in climate change and health action, despite resource constraints.  
• Effective action can mitigate the worst health impacts of climate change, but change is needed to achieve this. Silos between research and policy, and between health and climate change are limiting the potential for effective action and must be combatted.  
• Significant evidence gaps remain in climate change and health adaptation measures at the local level. To tackle these gaps, joining up existing datasets consistently, and addressing structural impediments to research on local adaptation measures for health should be prioritised. 
• The sphere of climate change and health still lacks a shared language and objectives. These are essential first steps towards protecting health in the face of climate change.  

Outputs and impact 

• The UCL Climate Change and Health Policy project convened two roundtable discussions, drawing together leading researchers with policy makers from local authorities and the Greater London Authority, and national stakeholders including the UK Health Security Agency.  
• The discussions identified challenge and opportunities for future shared working and began to build relationships between research and policy communities. An infographic commissioned as part of the project, captures a snapshot of the key take away messages.  
• A further workshops in October 2023, explored how to break down silos in climate change and health using a creative and interactive mosaic-based method, in collaboration with Scientia Scripta, Manchester Metropolitan University and Policy Connect. This workshop also formed part of a larger project exploring creative techniques to support policy development funded by the Wellcome Trust.  

Bullet list of reports, citations, pick ups  

• Climate Change and Health: From Challenges to Opportunities Discussion Summary  
• Next steps for silo busting in climate change and health