Climate Action for a Healthy Future

This briefing, published by the Global Climate and Health Alliance in May 2022, summarises health and wellbeing findings from the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on Mitigation of Climate Change. It highlights the synergies between climate mitigation and public health, arguing that immediate action in sectors like energy, transport, and agriculture can deliver significant health co-benefits, such as improved air quality and reduced non-communicable diseases, while addressing systemic inequalities.

• Immediate climate mitigation actions provide substantial long-term economic and health gains, with air quality improvements alone potentially offering economic savings of the same magnitude as, or larger than, the costs of mitigation.
• Shifting to sustainable healthy diets—specifically those with higher plant protein and lower meat and dairy intake—can reduce global emissions by nearly 29% and lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Transitioning the energy sector away from fossil fuels to renewables reduces local health burdens, such as those faced by coal mining communities, and is more economical when health costs and benefits are factored in.
• Urban planning that prioritises compact cities, active transport (walking and cycling), and green/blue infrastructure reduces emissions while improving mental health, increasing life expectancy, and reducing cardiovascular morbidity.
• Climate change is a justice issue where a small group of wealthy nations—including Australia, Canada, the EU, the UK, the US, Japan, and New Zealand—contributed 43% of historical cumulative CO2 emissions up to 2019, despite representing only 22% of the population.
• The world is currently on track for a warming of 3.2°C by 2100 if policies are not strengthened beyond those in place at the end of 2020, which would breach the 1.5°C threshold of the Paris Agreement.
• Removing fossil fuel subsidies could reduce global emissions by up to 10% by 2030 while improving public revenue and macroeconomic performance.

APA

Global Climate and Health Alliance (2022). Climate Action for a Healthy Future. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IPCC_Briefing-AR6-WG3.pdf

Chicago

Global Climate and Health Alliance. Climate Action for a Healthy Future. 2022. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IPCC_Briefing-AR6-WG3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Climate and Health Alliance |title=Climate Action for a Healthy Future |date=May 2022 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IPCC_Briefing-AR6-WG3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalclimateandhealthalliance2022climate, author = {{Global Climate and Health Alliance}}, title = {{Climate Action for a Healthy Future}}, institution = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IPCC_Briefing-AR6-WG3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }