Health risks of climate change and floods - Lords report

Leading health and environmental experts are calling for urgent action to protect people’s health from climate change and nature loss, as a new guide for parliamentarians launches today in the House of Lords.

The Parliamentarians’ Guide to Health and Climate Change brings together leading experts, including from the University of Reading, providing the latest evidence to explain why climate change and environmental decline are among the greatest threats to health in the 21st century, and what parliamentarians and policymakers can do to respond.

Following a summer of record-breaking heat, wildfires and drought putting health and essential services under growing pressure, the guide highlights the need to act now to address the climate impacts already occurring and prepare for the greater risks ahead.

Professor Hannah Cloke, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science at the University of Reading, wrote the chapter on storms and flooding. 

Professor Cloke said: "Flooding and storms are among the clearest ways in which climate change is increasingly affecting people's lives and health in the UK. Storms can be extremely violent and sudden, and many types of floods have lasting impacts on people's physical and mental wellbeing, as well as on our homes, jobs and the essential services we rely on.

"The evidence shows that by investing in early warning systems and adapting our buildings and landscapes, including with nature-based solutions, we can help protect communities from the risks we face."

'Proven solutions'

The report sets out ten priorities for action on climate and health in the UK, showing how policymakers can reduce health risks while delivering wider benefits for society and the economy. These include putting health at the heart of climate policy; preparing the NHS for climate impacts; creating healthier, climate-resilient places; tackling air pollution; protecting those most vulnerable to climate risks; and strengthening the resilience of the UK’s food system.

The guide also highlights the vital role of nature in protecting health - from expanding urban tree cover and access to green space to using nature-based solutions to reduce the risks of heat and flooding.

Developed by Peers for the Planet with the support of Wellcome, the guide aims to build cross-party understanding and drive action to protect public health, strengthen the economy and help communities become more resilient to the changes already under way.

Professor Baroness Kathy Willis CBE, FRS Chair of Peers for the Planet, the House of Lords climate and nature action group, said: “The science is clear: climate change is no longer a distant or abstract threat. Its impacts are already affecting people’s health, livelihoods and daily lives. We must act urgently, putting proven solutions into practice to protect public health, build resilience and safeguard the natural environment on which we depend.”

As well as the chapter written by Professor Cloke, two former University of Reading colleagues contributed to the report: Professor Elizabeth Robinson, now Professor of Environmental Economics and Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science, who wrote the chapter on economic costs of climate-related health risks; and Dr Chloe Brimicombe, now in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, a former PhD researcher at Reading, who contributed to the chapter on maternal and child health related-risks. 

• Read the full report: The Parliamentarians’ guide to health and climate change