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Mapping the co-benefits of climate change action to issues of public concern in the UK: a narrative review

Open access
Jennings, Neil, Fecht, Daniela, De Matteis, Sara·2020·The Lancet Planetary Health
DOI 10.1016/s2542-5196(20)30167-4PMC PMC7494843
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Abstract

To avoid a 1·5°C rise in global temperatures above preindustrial levels, the next phase of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will need to be comparatively rapid. Linking the co-benefits of climate action to wider issues that the public are concerned about can help decision makers to prioritise decarbonisation options that increase the chance of public support for such changes, while ensuring that a just transition is delivered. We identified key issues of concern to the UK public by use of Ipsos MORI public opinion data from 2007 to 2020 and used these data to guide a narrative review of academic and grey literature on the co-benefits of climate change action for the UK. Correspondence with civil servants, third sector organisations, and relevant academics allowed us to identify omissions and to ensure policy relevance of the recommendations. This evidence-based Review of the various co-benefits of climate change action for the UK identifies four main areas: health and the National Health Service; security; economy and unemployment; and poverty, housing, and inequality. Associated trade-offs are also discussed. City-level and regional-level governments are particularly well placed to incorporate co-benefits into their decision making because it is at this scale that co-benefits most clearly manifest, and where interventions can have the most immediate effects.

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  • Emerging evidence suggests that acting on climate change mitigates climate distress through reduced personal stress and improved optimism.

    “Emerging evidence suggests that acting on climate change mitigates climate distress through reduced personal stress and improved optimism. 32”

    From Understanding and managing psychological distress due to climate change (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

    The ‘Health and green space’ section reports that access to green space is linked to reduced stress and describes urban green space as a climate-mitigation measure. It does not say that personally acting on climate change mitigates climate distress or improves optimism; the reported stress finding concerns access to green space, not distress about climate change. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Cited by

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Authors
Jennings, N., Fecht, D., & De Matteis, S.
Affiliations
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • MRC Centre for Environment and Health (GB)
Corresponding author
Jennings, Neil
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet Planetary Health
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-09
Volume
4
Issue
9
Pages
e424-e433
ISSN
2542-5196 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s2542-5196(20)30167-4
PMC
PMC7494843
OpenAlex
W3084157457
Cited by
52
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6
FWCI
0.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The Lancet Planetary Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • UNICA IRIS Institutional Research Information System (University of Cagliari) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Institutional Research Information System University of Turin (University of Turin) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Medical Research Council
  • Università di Cagliari
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Climate Change Policy and Economics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Climate Change Communication and Perception
Keywords
public opinion, public concern, decarbonization, just transition, public support for climate policy, security, unemployment, poverty, housing, inequality, trade-offs, local government
MeSH terms
United Kingdom, Housing, Humans, Policy Making, Public Opinion, Socioeconomic Factors, State Medicine, Climate Change, Environmental Policy

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