Advocating health to be core of climate change policy and communications

The paper published in The Lancet Planetary Health advocates how the threat to human health from climate change must be given greater political attention and be at the core of global climate negotiations. There is a rapidly accumulating scientific evidence base on the deleterious effects of climate change on health. Still, the challenges that climate change pose to societies have typically been addressed by actors focusing on energy and environment who may not have sufficient knowledge to assess and tackle health aspects of climate change. Recently health ministries have begun to address the issue, but this has often been confined to sustainable health-care systems, disregarding the wider co-benefits of adaptation and mitigation action. A better understanding of the universal value of health is required to develop an intersectoral, whole society approach that considers the links between climate and health.
Two questions arise: (1) what is inhibiting a health framing of the climate policy discussions (ie, addressing the topic), and (2) what hinders the translation of political discussions into political commitments and actions (ie, developing and implementing solutions)? The questions point to issues related to the quantification of effects in terms of economic benefit, neglect of the cross-sectoral nature of health, and the wedge between scientists and policy makers. To help address this disconnect between science and policy, the scientific community can do more to communicate findings in an accessible way to policy makers, catalyse new forms of engagement at science–policy interfaces, assess implementation of solutions, and advise on accountability. 

2. Filling knowledge gaps with research
3. Synthesising research findings 
4. Improving evaluation of health effects of climate mitigation and adaptation actions
5. Effective health risk communication and countering misinformation
6. Identifying and implementing the role of science to support it as public good to inform policy and practice