NCDs & CLIMATE CHANGE SHARED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION

This briefing by the Global Climate and Health Alliance outlines the synergies between combating climate change and preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It argues that interventions in energy, transport, and food systems can provide 'co-benefit' solutions that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and NCD risk factors such as air pollution, physical inactivity, and poor diet.

• Climate change and NCDs are interconnected global challenges that share common risk factors, specifically air pollution, physical inactivity, and poor diet. These factors originate from similar sources across the energy, transport, food, agriculture, and industrial sectors.
• Air pollution is a major driver of NCDs, with the WHO reporting 7 million premature deaths annually. Indoor air pollution, primarily from unclean cookstoves used by approximately 3 billion people, causes about 4 million of these deaths and disproportionately affects women and children.
• Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power offers significant health and economic benefits. For example, mortality rates for coal per trillion kilowatt hours are over 1,000 times higher than for wind.
• Promoting active transport, such as walking and cycling, reduces greenhouse gas emissions while combating physical inactivity, which causes 3.2 million deaths annually. Examples of successful interventions include Bogotà's 'Ciclovía' and London's 'congestion charge'.
• Shifting from processed and animal-based diets to plant-based, locally sourced foods reduces both NCD risks and climate impacts. Livestock production alone is responsible for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding the emissions from all forms of transport combined.
• The document recommends a multisectoral, 'whole-of-society' approach to policy coherence, where public health considerations are integrated into climate mitigation plans and vice versa. It emphasizes the role of municipal governments and cities as key hubs for implementing these co-benefit packages.

APA

Beagley, J., & Braithwaite, I. (n.d.). NCDs & CLIMATE CHANGE SHARED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ClimateChangeNCDs_BRIEF_EN_web_0.pdf

Chicago

Beagley, Jess, and Isobel Braithwaite. NCDs & CLIMATE CHANGE SHARED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION. Global Climate and Health Alliance, n.d. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ClimateChangeNCDs_BRIEF_EN_web_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Beagley |first1=Jess |last2=Braithwaite |first2=Isobel |title=NCDs & CLIMATE CHANGE SHARED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ClimateChangeNCDs_BRIEF_EN_web_0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{beagleyndncds, author = {Beagley, Jess and Braithwaite, Isobel}, title = {{NCDs \& CLIMATE CHANGE SHARED OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION}}, institution = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ClimateChangeNCDs_BRIEF_EN_web_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }