House of Lords briefing on the essential links between health, climate change and nature

Climate change and nature loss pose clear risks to physical and mental health yet public awareness of the impacts on human health is low.  A health-centred response to the climate and nature crises, with greater linkage between climate and health policies could lead to multiple co-benefits and cost savings. 

Peers for the Planet (P4P) partnered with the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) for this briefing session at the House of Lords on 22 April.

The WHO has called the Paris Agreement “a fundamental public health agreement, potentially the most important public health agreement of the century”. This session provided an overview of the impacts of extreme weather and degradation of nature on human health, and explored the numerous opportunities to deliver policies which will improve health, whilst also supporting a low carbon, nature positive future.

The session was chaired by The Rt. Hon. The Lord Crisp KCB and we were grateful to be joined by a panel of expert speakers from across academia and the medical sector:

• Dr Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown and climate change and health researcher at UCL – on the Lancet Countdown 2023 global report on health and climate change.
• Dr Elaine Mulcahy, Director of UKHACC – on policy actions the UK can take for a health-centred response to climate change.

• Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, Vice Chair (External Affairs) of the Royal College of General Practitioners – on [a GP’s experience of green social prescribing]
• Prof David Strain, Chair of British Medical Association’s Board of Science and Associate Professor of Cardiometabolic Health at the University of Exeter Medical School – on [the health benefits of a healthier, more plant-based diet]
• Prof. Baroness Kathy Willis, CBE – on [recent research on the physiological reaction to nature and the health, wellbeing and cognitive benefits of time spent in nature].

The presentations were followed by a Q&A discussion with peers and MPs in attendance. We hope to follow up after the general election to deliver more in depth sessions on specific areas of work.