Climate and health

The climate crisis constitutes the largest threat to public health in the 21st century, from which several climate-sensitive direct or indirect health risks emerge. It is noteworthy that the health impact of the climate crisis disproportionately falls on groups with lower socio-economic status, which generally have lower adaptation capacities. 

This webinar explored and expanded upon the reached conclusions on the risks associated with acting in silos and thus neglecting the interactions between climate, health and inequality, but also looked for potential synergies when establishing a sound climate-health-inequality nexus. It further addressed the question of where the barriers lie to successfully exploiting these synergies between health and climate policy fields. 

Research performed under this policy brief already showcased potential pitfalls when climate policy does not consider health, and when health policy does not take into account interactions with climate change. It also demonstrated that the interdependencies of climate and health create various opportunities. 

There is, however, a huge potential for health policy to contribute to climate change mitigation and for climate policy to reduce disease burden. Policymakers are becoming progressively aware of the link between health and climate. This nexus is further correlated with equality, which is understood as equal access to opportunities, good living conditions and healthcare. 

Presenters:

• Dr. Willi Haas, Senior Scientist and Lecturer at the Institute for Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, and co-author of the ‘Climate and Health Policy’ policy brief
• Christina Lampl, Independent Nutrition Researcher, Österreichisches Public Health Institut, and co-author of the ‘Climate and Health Policy’ policy brief

Discussants:

• Tomáš Petříček, senior non-residential fellow at the Centre of Global Political Economy at the Institute of International Relations in Prague.

Moderation by David Rinaldi, Director of Studies and Policy, FEPS.

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This webinar arises from the ‘Climate mainstreaming: Breaking down the silos’ series, intended to highlight the multidisciplinary approach required to fully understand the consequences of the climatic crisis we are living in. 

• Climate justice principles
• Climate and health
• Climate and gender 
• Climate and digital