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Climate change and social health
Marlee Bower1, Kate Filia2, Emma L Lawrance3,4
1Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Marlee.bower@sydney.edu.au.
Nature Human Behaviour
|May 15, 2026
Summary
Social health, the ability to form meaningful relationships, is vital for population health and climate resilience. Improving social health can enhance our capacity to address climate change challenges.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Social Sciences
- Public Health
Background:
- Social health, crucial for population well-being and climate resilience, is underrepresented in climate policy and research.
- Climate change significantly impacts social determinants like housing stability and community cohesion.
- Social disconnection can impede collective action on the climate crisis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize interdisciplinary evidence on the bidirectional relationship between climate change and social health.
- To explore how social health acts as both a vulnerability and a tool for climate action.
- To propose a conceptual framework for understanding social health-climate interactions.
Main Methods:
- A narrative review of interdisciplinary evidence.
- Analysis of the interplay between climate change impacts and social conditions.
- Development of a conceptual framework detailing interaction pathways.
Main Results:
- Climate change disrupts social conditions, while social disconnection hinders climate action.
- Social health is identified as both a climate vulnerability and a lever for climate action.
- A conceptual framework illustrates the complex interactions between social health and climate outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Centering social health in climate and health governance is essential for building resilience.
- Addressing social health is critical for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- Further research and policy development are needed to integrate social health into climate action frameworks.
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