Investigating connections between public health and climate change

The link between health and climate change is being explored by an international collaboration led by the UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH).

In Paris in 2015, the 197 signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. 

The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international, multidisciplinary project, which provides an ongoing independent assessment of the delivery of these commitments. 

““Crucially, our response to climate change could bring immense benefits for human health.”

“Climate change threatens to undermine the last 50 years of gains in public health, intensifying heat waves and extreme weather events, worsening flood and drought, altering the spread of infectious diseases, and exacerbating poverty and mental ill-health,” says Professor Anthony Costello (UCL IGH). “Crucially, our response to climate change could bring immense benefits for human health, with cleaner air, healthier diets, and more liveable cities.” 

The science of climate change describes a range of possible futures, which are largely dependent on the degree of action or inaction in the face of a warming world.  

The policies implemented following the Paris Agreement will have far-reaching effects in determining these eventualities, with the indicators tracked here monitoring both the present-day effects of climate change, as well as the worldwide response.  

“We formed The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change to monitor this transition from threat to opportunity and to demonstrate the benefits of realising the commitments made under the Paris Agreement,” adds Professor Costello. 

The project presents an annual update of 41 indicators across five key domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.  

Hosted by UCL, The Lancet Countdown brings together 35 leading academic institutions and UN agencies from every continent. It also draws on the expertise of world-class researchers from multiple disciplines within UCL, from health and geography to environmental design and engineering.