Climate Action for a Healthy Future

The document outlines the synergies between climate mitigation and public health, arguing that immediate action to reduce emissions provides significant health co-benefits across energy, transport, urban planning, and agriculture. It emphasises that climate change is a justice issue, noting that wealthy nations and individuals are the primary polluters while vulnerable populations suffer most. The briefing advocates for systemic transformations, such as shifting to plant-based diets, decarbonising energy systems, and implementing sustainable urban design, to avoid breaching the 1.5°C warming threshold and to improve global health outcomes.

• Immediate climate mitigation delivers long-term economic gains and avoids climate-related losses, with health savings from air quality improvements alone potentially equaling or exceeding mitigation costs.
• Shifting to sustainable healthy diets—specifically those higher in plant protein and lower in meat and dairy—can reduce global emissions by nearly 30% while lowering risks of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Transitioning to renewable energy sources like wind and solar is increasingly cost-effective and provides major health benefits by reducing air pollution and the burdens associated with fossil fuel extraction, such as coal mining.
• Urban planning that prioritises compact cities, active transport (walking and cycling), and green/blue infrastructure reduces emissions and improves public health by lowering heat stress and cardiovascular morbidity.
• Climate change is a justice issue where a small group of wealthy countries—including the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, 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 3.2°C of warming by 2100 unless policies are strengthened, which would severely threaten global health, livelihoods, and biodiversity.
• 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} }