Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation

The document argues that climate change adaptation measures involving green and blue areas provide significant co-benefits for human health, which are often overlooked in policy design. It develops a conceptual framework based on five pathways: prevention of climate and pollution effects, improvement of ecosystem quality, social environment benefits, economic activity development, and interaction with microorganisms. The authors review existing literature using objective, self-reported, and mixed methodologies, finding a generally positive but inconsistent correlation between natural environments and health outcomes, with green areas being more extensively studied than blue areas.

• The authors propose a conceptual framework for health co-benefits of adaptation based on five primary pathways: prevention of climate change and pollution effects, ecosystem quality improvement, social environment factors, economic activity development, and contact with microorganisms.
• Green and blue areas can mitigate climate-related health risks, such as reducing urban temperatures by approximately one degree on average for green spaces during heatwaves and diminishing flood hazards through water retention.
• Exposure to natural environments may support the human immune system's development through symbiotic relations with the microbiome, although there are risks of infection from certain microorganisms.
• Evidence suggests that green spaces can reduce health inequalities, as socio-economically deprived groups may derive greater health benefits from nearby green areas than wealthier groups.
• A review of objective data from the Netherlands showed a significant reduction in morbidity across 15 of 24 disease clusters when green space within a 1 km radius increased by 10%.
• Research on 'blue areas' (coastal and freshwater) is less developed than research on green areas, though studies in England indicate a positive correlation between coastal proximity and self-reported general and mental health.
• The authors identify a lack of comparability in existing literature due to heterogeneous methodologies, which include objective physiological measurements, self-reported questionnaires, and mixed approaches.
• The paper argues that failing to account for health co-benefits when designing adaptation options, such as sustainable urban drainage systems or flood defences, can lead to sub-optimal policy.

APA

Martinez-Juarez, P., Chiabai, A., Gómez, S. Q., & Taylor, T. (2015). Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201507071250261052164374.pdf

Chicago

Martinez-Juarez, Pablo, Aline Chiabai, Sonia Quiroga Gómez, and Tim Taylor. Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2015. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201507071250261052164374.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Martinez-Juarez |first1=Pablo |last2=Chiabai |first2=Aline |last3=Gómez |first3=Sonia Quiroga |last4=Taylor |first4=Tim |title=Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=April 2015 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201507071250261052164374.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{martinezjuarez2015ecosystems, author = {Martinez-Juarez, Pablo and Chiabai, Aline and Gómez, Sonia Quiroga and Taylor, Tim}, title = {{Ecosystems and human health: towards a conceptual framework for assessing the co-benefits of climate change adaptation}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2015}, month = apr, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/201507071250261052164374.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }