Health and other sectors need information, tools, and resources to support their decisions and increase their climate resilience. CHanGE members work with a wide range of organizations, from cities to health departments to ministries, to clarify decision support needs and facilitate decisions related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Guiding Mitigation
Activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have immediate, substantial health benefits, in addition to avoiding long-term health impacts from dangerous climate change. These immediate health benefits often pay for most or all of the mitigation actions. CHanGE works with policymakers and environmental health practitioners to generate estimates of these mitigation health benefits and to clarify how they can offset mitigation costs.
Guiding Adaptation
Some of our researchers work with countries, policy makers, ministries of health, and other groups to help them assess their vulnerability to the effects of climate change, and to help them plan to adapt to those changes.
The magnitude and pattern of observed climate impacts and projected health risks of climate variability and change depend on three factors: the hazards created by a changing climate, the communities exposed to these hazards; and the vulnerability of the individuals and communities when exposed. Vulnerability, capacity, and adaptation assessments systematically synthesize information on these factors to inform adaptation policies and plans at local to national scales. CHanGE members work with countries around the world, supporting ministries of health and other organizations to conduct these assessments and use them to develop adaptation plans.
Geographic vulnerability, limited financial and human resources, and high background levels of climate-sensitive health outcomes mean that many countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific are at higher risk as the climate continues to change. The first step in understanding and addressing these risks is conducting a vulnerability, capacity, and adaptation assessment. These assessments are then used t in developing the health component of national adaptation plans describing policies and programs to increase resilience. CHanGE members provide technical support to country teams conducting such assessments.
Mozambique is particularly vulnerable to the health risks of climate variability because of their geography, high exposure to hydrometeorological hazards, limited financial and human resources, and high background levels of climate-sensitive health outcomes. CHanGE members worked with the government of Mozambique to analyze data to estimate relationships between temperature and precipitation and cases of diarrheal disease. This information was used to identify where and when there could be more cases of diarrheal disease and inform proactive actions.