How climate action can improve health and strengthen the economy

Why is it important? 

Action to tackle climate change can provide a wide range of benefits that extend well beyond just reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These benefits include improvements to public health, enhanced energy security, greater economic productivity and job creation and are important as they provide short-term, local benefits from actions that tackle the longer-term, global threat posed by climate change. 

What are we doing?  

Our work is focused on collating and communicating evidence of the co-benefits that climate action can bring. Building on a 2019 briefing and a co-benefits toolkit developed by the charity Ashden (with support from the Grantham Institute), we have engaged with councils around the country to highlight the opportunities that climate action provides for addressing other key challenges faced at the local level (eg, to health, housing, inequality). As part of this, we have run engagement activities with a variety of audiences from Cabinet Office civil servants, Council Leaders, chief executives and officers to members of the public via climate assemblies and engagement events run by local authorities. We have also developed a range of materials that set out the evidence for how climate action can help to contribute to improved health and economic outcomes. 

Our recent work has focused on understanding public perceptions of co-benefits so that those communicating climate action can tailor their messages to different audiences. Our 2023 Report, drawing on survey and focus group data, provides a detailed breakdown of public perceptions of a range of co-benefits. You can find out more about that work in the launch event webinar. This public perception work is ongoing, with regular surveys (March 2024 survey here) that aim to track how opinions are changing over time. 

Within Imperial, we convene a network of researchers with expertise in the co-benefits of climate action and are engaging with decision-makers to understand how evidence from the scientific community can best inform real-world decisions.

 

Related content

Report: How climate action improves public health & saves money

This briefing paper outlines the opportunities to deliver climate and health benefits across key sectors and highlights relevant transport, housing, diet and green space-related recommendations.

Report: Climate change priorities for the next UK government

This report outlines five key priorities over the lifetime of the next UK Parliament to deliver near-term emissions reductions and promote a more resilient economy and society.

Background briefing: Explainer on climate change & the economy

This explainer outlines the economic measures that can be taken to tackle climate change and the cost and benefits involved in implementing them. Developed in collaboration with the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics.

Commentary: The public view on the benefits of climate action

This comment piece summarises the findings from our autumn/winter 2023 public opinion survey on the public's attitude towards climate action.

Report: How the UK perceives the co-benefits of climate action

This report shows the initial findings of on-going research on public attitudes to climate action and its co-benefits.

Report: Co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the UK

This briefing shows how action on climate change can have multiple benefits across society. It highlights the role that cities and devolved regions can play in capitalising on these co-benefits.

Related events

In this webinar, researchers present their findings from a new nationwide survey that looked at the perceived importance of different co-benefits and how perceptions varied by demographic factors such as age, gender and ethnicity. Play video
In this webinar, researchers present their findings from a new nationwide survey that looked at the perceived importance of different co-benefits and how perceptions varied by demographic factors such as age, gender and ethnicity.