Estimating the health co-benefits from climate action

There is evidence that the global value of health co-benefits that result from climate action, are greater than the financial costs of mitigation measures around climate change.

However, policy decisions at national and sub-national levels seldom reflect a connection with these global assessments.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised this as an area of priority, and over the course of 2020-21 are committed to work with Health Economists to provide economic evidence that can be integrated into national level considerations, and specific policy measures for climate change.

As a Health Economist, I will work with the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO headquarters, to support the generation of reliable country-level estimates of potential health gains and savings from national climate mitigation commitments of member countries.

I will use mixed methods in my research, including cost-benefit analysis for feasible interventions and policy analysis to appreciate successful policies in neighbouring countries.

The outputs of my work, which will highlight the health implications of climate change for policy-makers within and outside the health sector, will include a policy report highlighting country level health benefits due to reduced emissions, as well as a paper for submission to an academic journal.