Framing climate change as a human health issue: enough to tip the scale in climate policy?

Abstract

Almost four decades of climate science have not yet led to transformative policy change at the pace and scale required to confront the climate crisis. Colleagues in the planetary health community attribute much potential to framing climate change as human health issue in order to create greater impact on policy makers. In this Personal View, we discuss the promise and limitations of this approach by drawing on insights from political science and public policy with regards to the complexity of these contentious policy issues. We argue that we, as academics, have a moral obligation to embrace an active role in the knowledge-to-action (KTA) sphere and that we would be well advised to expand our KTA approach to include evidence-based strategies, such as lobbying or civil resistance. As scientists, we can no longer wait to embrace the realpolitik insights of political science to move our evidence into policy action.

‘Climate change mitigation is a hot topic, but not when it comes to hospitals’: a qualitative study on hospital stakeholders’ perception and sense of responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions

“…However, as in studies with other hospital stakeholder groups, it appeared that beneficence through mitigating climate change was seen as subordinate priority compared with beneficence through immediate patient care 14–16. In the hospital context, as our study showed, there is often a significant concern about harming patients, while in the general context, mitigation measures predominantly raise concerns about limited personal freedom and imposed financial burdens 38. Results from a study comparing per capita GHG emissions from the health sector in different US states indicate that reduced GHG emissions do not compromise the quality of health systems 39.…”

Climate change, women’s health, and the role of obstetricians and gynecologists in leadership

“…Thus, adverse effects will reverberate across the human lifespan, with individuals born disadvantaged from in utero climate insults, burdened with predispositions to disease (e.g. obesity, metabolic disorders, congenital defects, allergies, neurodevelopmental and psychological impairments, etc), and ill‐adapted to further climate insults during their own lifetimes 87,108 …”

“…obesity, metabolic disorders, congenital defects, allergies, neurodevelopmental and psychological impairments, etc), and illadapted to further climate insults during their own lifetimes. 87,108 It is also clear that the health of women is affected disproportionately due to the climate crisis, although they contribute little to its genesis. In protecting pregnant women and the developing fetus from the health hazards associated with air pollution, heat, and natural disasters, any individual efforts-while commendable-are insufficient and beyond individual control due to the systematic sources of the climate change problem, of which the fossil fuel industry is an important contributor.…”

2021 Climate and Health Review – Uncharted Territory: Extreme Weather Events and Morbidity

“…Portraying the human health impacts of major climate hazards such as EWEs has been seen as a compelling way to foster climate action 2 . EWEs shock and resonate with people 3 , and a health frame may help to convince the public and decision-makers of their self-interest in proactive climate policy 2,4 . Among elements of this health framing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called the 2015 Paris Agreement "potentially the most important public health agreement of the century" 5 , while the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change annually monitors and disseminates health and climate indicators, including those associated with EWEs such as heatwaves and wildfires 2 .…”

“…Arguably, the public health frame helped to achieve this modest progress 7,9 . Yet, observers have wondered if the health frame is sufficient to motivate people and policymakers to greater ambition 4 .…”