Researchers at think tank NPC have reviewed evidence of the ways that people experiencing health inequalities will be impacted by the climate crisis and nature loss –and the government’s policy responses to them.
The new briefing, published at the end of June, is for charities and funders and aims to answer the question, ‘How will the climate and nature crises affect people experiencing health inequalities?’
People’s Health Trust has partnered with NPC to fund the health inequalities strand of the Everyone's Environment programme - a collaboration of more than 70 organisations focusing on the impact of environmental crises on people’s lives.
The briefing looks across the building blocks of health and assesses the impacts of the environmental crises across different places and communities, examining for example how air pollution, heatwaves and other extreme weather events will impact different groups of people including people living in neighbourhoods experiencing disadvantage, disabled people and people from minority ethnic groups.
The research also highlights the often forgotten impacts on groups subject to the greatest health inequalities including refugees, prisoners, people who have experienced homelessness, and traveller communities. It also found that in some cases no research exists into the impact of the climate crisis upon them at all.
It was published alongside a briefing examining how people experiencing poverty are experiencing the environmental crises.
NPC launched the briefings at a launch event on 26 June which was Chaired by Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Executive of Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN), one of the Trust’s Homes for Health funded partners.
Leah Davis, Head of Policy at NPC said:
“Climate change and nature loss are affecting people’s lives today – it’s not just a problem for the future. And sadly, we see again and again that the environmental crises are affecting people living in poverty and living with long-term health conditions the most.
Quite simply, environmental change will make health inequalities worse – and create new ones.
We hope that these briefings can be a vital resource for charities, policymakers, and other researchers to be able to point to the specific impacts that climate change and nature loss are having on people’s lives.”
Together with NPC, People’s Health Trust is convening funded partners on Friday 9 and Wednesday 14 August to discuss how the climate crisis and health inequalities are affecting communities where you are and how we can take action together.
If you are a People’s Health Trust funded partner, find out more and register here.
To read the climate and health inequalities briefing, click here.
Everyone’s Environment is a group of over 70 charities that focuses on the impact of environmental crises on people’s lives. They have previously looked into how the climate crisis and nature loss is affecting young people, disabled people and older people, and people from ethnic minority communities. Find out more about the Everyone’s Environment Coalition and how to join here.
