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A just energy transition for the good of health

A policy report by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change

The UK is currently poised on a transformational opportunity to develop our energy system and the way in which we use energy that has the potential to deliver a better, fairer and healthier society. Our governments, industries, public institutions and people must take this opportunity to clean the air, protect us from the threats of climate change, and create the jobs and infrastructure that will stimulate a positive cultural and societal shift that is good for health and the environment.

A just energy transition for the good of health

In this policy report, we highlight six recommendations to establish the UK as a global leader in the green energy revolution that will define this generation and provide UK citizens with healthier environments to live and work.

Recommendations

1. End fossil fuel dependency
  1. End government subsidies, investments, new licences and consent for fossil fuel exploration, extraction and sales; redirect funds to renewable energy sources and technologies; and implement policies to achieve a just transition.
2. Revise and strengthen the government’s strategy for getting to net zero
  1. Deliver a revised, strengthened net-zero strategy with robust policies to achieve significant emissions reductions across all sectors of the economy, ensuring a credible plan is published to decarbonise the energy system and encourage uptake of green energy retrofit government schemes.
3. Invest in people to meet the demand for green jobs
  1. Establish clear public targets for green skills creation, with a particular focus on those regions and groups most at risk of job loss and support the industry to develop green skills through investments and incentives for training and apprenticeships.
4. Improve infrastructure and access for active travel and clean transport
  1. Implement targets to reduce motorised road traffic in line with net zero targets and upscale investment in high-quality infrastructure to enable and promote walking, wheeling, cycling, and public and shared community transport use.
5. Enable a low carbon, climate resilient health service
  1. Provide sufficient capital investment and funding to decarbonise NHS infrastructure, estates, and services, accelerate the transition to electrification of the NHS fleet, and deliver public transport and active travel routes to NHS sites for staff, patients and visitors combined with actions to deliver resiliency in health and care services.
6. Demonstrate leadership by delivering domestically and meeting international obligations
  1. Demonstrate global leadership by delivering ambition domestically through accelerated action to phase out fossil fuels, increasing investment, development and use of renewable energy, and stepping up to meet international financial commitments to pay for the UK’s global contribution to the climate crisis.

Infographics

Health benefits of clean energy

Health harms of fossil fuels

A cleaner energy system and a better, fairer and healthier society

End fossil fuel dependency

Invest in renewables with policies to support a just transition

A strong net zero strategy

Revise and strengthen the net zero strategy to achieve emissions reductions

Green skills creation

Invest in people to meet the demand for green jobs

Cleaner ways to travel

Make it easier for people to travel actively and in shared transport

Sustainable health service

Enable a low-carbon, climate resilient health and care system

Demonstrate leadership

Deliver domestically and meet international obligations

Why fossil fuel dependency is bad for our health

Air pollution

Health is at risk from short- and long-term exposure to air pollutants

Fuel poverty

Cold, damp homes place people at risk of poorer health outcomes

Extreme weather

Heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires are a threat to health and health services

Biodiversity loss

Loss of biodiversity is a major threat to human health

Cut emissions, not trees

Biomass has health, environmental, climate, justice and economic costs

Harmful influences

Conflicts of interest and harmful influences threaten progress