Integrating Public Health into Climate Change Policy and Planning: State of Practice Update

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Climate change necessitates urgent policy action for decarbonization and resilience.
• Public health plays a critical role in climate planning, offering health co-benefits for mitigation and adaptation.
• The US CDC Climate and Health Program (launched 2009) has influenced public health's climate change response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the evolution of public health's role in climate change action.
• To assess public health's performance in climate action using the Core Functions and Essential Services (CFES) framework.
• To identify areas for improvement in public health's integration into climate policy.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of public health's climate change activities since 2009.
• Analysis of public health response across CFES domains: assessment, policy development, and assurance.
• Evaluation of the CFES model's alignment with emerging concepts like governance, implementation, and adjustment.

Main Results:

• Public health shows strength in assessment (monitoring, diagnosis, vulnerability assessment).
• Performance is mixed in policy development (partnerships, mitigation, adaptation).
• Assurance functions (communication, workforce, evaluation) are relatively weak.

Conclusions:

• The CFES model is valuable but needs updating to include governance, implementation, and adjustment.
• Integrating these concepts will enhance public health's proactive role in climate policy.
• Strengthening assurance functions is crucial for effective public health climate action.