Connecting the health and climate agendas will lead to faster action on both – Inside track

This article, written by Sophie O’Connell, policy adviser, was first published in National Health Executive magazine.

Siloed working in the third sector and the government is getting in the way of effective action on climate and health. Experts in the environment sector could be accused of being so buried in the details of protecting nature and arguing against fossil fuels that they forget to highlight the very reasons why they matter.

Despite the intrinsic link between health and climate change, it is not always well communicated and is thus poorly understood by the public and those with power to change negative outcomes. Health might be the largely untold story of the UK environment sector, but the same cannot be said for the health sector which has been banging the drum for some time about the health impacts of climate change and how healthcare can minimise its environmental impacts. The NHS in England was the first healthcare system in the world to commit to reducing its carbon emissions and there are well established health based activist groups, such as the medical branch of Extinction Rebellion.

During the recent energy crisis, Green Alliance was instrumental in founding Warm This Winter, a campaign bringing together environmental and poverty organisations to call for more government action on the energy crisis both in the immediate and long term. This has demonstrated the power of cross sector collaboration and a range of messengers amplifying a key message, like how to address fuel poverty. Amongst its significant wins, Warm This Winter was influential in securing:

• a formal Ofgem review of energy operating costs;
• the launch of an Ofgem review into standing charges on energy bills;
• the cancellation of hydrogen for home heating trials.

Recent research by Green Alliance for Age UK explored how the UK’s leading charity for older people can bring climate change more into its work. Health was a prominent theme. It is already a central pillar of Age UK’s work, and older people face increasing vulnerabilities due to a changing climate. Communicating climate change through a health lens resonates strongly with Age UK’s audiences and could even help to increase the engagement of older people in environmental issues.

It is not just the charity sector that would benefit from cross sector collaborations. In government, siloed departmental working has been a longstanding problem, resulting in poor value for money and ineffectiveness.

The Public Accounts Committee’s report, Cross-government working, states it is fundamental to successful government policy and programmes, and that it is being hindered by lack of data sharing and cross-departmental buy-in.

This is a particular problem for the environmental departments, where civil servants working on net zero policy are not health experts, and the Department for Health and Social Care, which is not paying close enough attention to recent climate science to ensure public health is protected from environmental changes.

There are opportunities for change. During spending reviews, which tend to coincide with the UK’s annual budget process, new incentives for cross-departmental working are likely to have more salience. It could include establishing a co-benefits fund, administrated by the Cabinet Office, or establishing a joint Office for Public Health and the Environment, co-funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Health and Social Care.

Similar initiatives have proved successful, like the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, which was co-funded by the Department for Transport and the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This helped to produce compelling evidence for the electric vehicle transition, and provided guidance and regulation, and facilitated important policies like the low emission vehicles plug-in grant.

Devolving greater power and resources to local and regional governments to work together across the health and environment brief can also ensure tailored solutions devised by those with localised expertise.

Whether it is the inner workings of government or between different interests in the charity sector, working in partnership and sharing expertise and resources is not a new or radical phenomenon, but it is going to become even more vital to drive change for the good of public health and the environment during an era of grave need.