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Optimizing the health benefits of climate change policies using health impact assessment

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Abstract

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a tool that can be used to examine the potential health impacts of proposed climate change policies and offer recommendations to promote health and mitigate adverse health consequences of such policies. We used an HIA database, a literature search, and expert consultation to identify 12 HIAs of the proposed climate change policies from six states in the U.S. These policies included cap-and-trade legislation, heat-wave and sea-level-rise mitigation and adaptation, transportation policy impacts of climate change, carbon-reduction strategy scenarios, soil- and water-conservation strategies, urban forest canopy for climate adaptation, overheating buildings, and regional transportation plan and sustainable communities strategies. In four descriptive summaries, we found that HIAs foster stakeholder engagement and provide useful health-promoting recommendations. HIAs can facilitate cross-sector collaboration, help optimize the health co-benefits of climate change policies, and raise awareness among decision makers of health impacts of those proposed policies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The authors thank Ashley Aukes, Andrea Hamberg, Ruth Lindberg, Kristen Raab, Catherine Ratte, Margaret Round, Julie Sifuentes, and Sandra Whitehead for their assistance in providing additional information about specific HIAs reviewed in this report. In addition, the authors thank Abigail Baum and Stefanie Carignan for their effort to verify information in Table 1.

Disclaimer

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 3940 NE Surber Drive, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Andrew L. Dannenberg

  2. Health Impact Project, Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC, USA

    Bethany Rogerson

  3. Center for Climate Change and Health, Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA, USA

    Linda Rudolph

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  1. Andrew L. Dannenberg
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Correspondence to Andrew L. Dannenberg.

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Dannenberg, A.L., Rogerson, B. & Rudolph, L. Optimizing the health benefits of climate change policies using health impact assessment. J Public Health Pol 41, 139–154 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-019-00189-y

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