A new report from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reveals that the health impacts of climate change will be disproportionately felt by disadvantaged communities, significantly exacerbating existing health inequalities.
The findings show that vulnerable groups – including people with disabilities, homeless populations, and those in deprived areas – will bear the brunt of extreme weather like heat waves and floods, which are becoming more common due to greenhouse gas emissions. This amplifies existing disparities, where those in poverty already have lower life expectancy.
Experts, like Sir Michael Marmot, are urgently calling on policymakers to take decisive climate action with equity at the forefront. Measures around housing, transport, work and food must prioritise supporting disadvantaged groups through the transition to sustainability. Failure to do so could further entrench unequal health outcomes.
The report projects severe intergenerational impacts, with today’s children facing increasingly extreme weather through retirement. Scientists emphasise the need to cut emissions and boost adaptation efforts so overburdened health systems can manage escalating risks.
Allowing climate change to continue unchecked means accepting the severe worsening of health inequalities. Urgent climate action with equity central to policy decisions is vital to prevent this outcome. The Race Equality Foundation is working with others to make a change, and implores leaders to heed the report’s concerning projections and protect the most vulnerable by creating climate plans that leave no one behind.
Read the report here.
