Posted on 3/06/21 by Kristen Guida
PHE Climate Change, Health, and the 2030 Agenda Public Health England and the COP26 Unit will host a series of panel discussions monthly from July to December exploring horizon questions for climate change impacts and responses within the health sector. Each panel will include an academic researcher and representatives from policy and practice. The first session will focus on inequalities, followed by sessions on nutrition, infectious diseases, disasters, mental health, and climate resilience within health systems. You can find out more about the events and book to attend here.
Ordinance Survey EO data offer – invitation OS is conducting research into whether they should provide insights derived from Earth Observation (satellite, remote sensing) data as part of their product suite. We’ve invited them to come along to test their ideas and assumptions with users and show some examples of the types of services that could be provided and discuss what would be useful to practitioners and policy makers. Linking EO with other data (e.g., socioeconomic, climate)—and making the supply of data sustainable over longer periods—could potentially help with things like change detection, deeper attribution in terms of land cover, vegetation, urban build out, etc., and make data updates faster. This will be on 15 June, 2-3pm. If you’d like to attend, let me know.
TE2100 social, economic, and environmental benefits There is still space to attend the Environment Agency’s workshops this month to review the wider benefits of the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan, and they are particularly keen to hear from people who have expertise beyond flood risk management. 22 June, 10.00-12.30; 24 June, 10.00-12.30; or 28 June, 14.30-17.00.
Croydon Climate Crisis Commission report In March 2020 Croydon Council partnered with the New Economics Foundation to set up and support a Climate Crisis Commission to build on the work of its climate Citizen’s Assembly. Find its report and recommendations here.
Launch of IGNITION Living Lab and interim report Many of you will know IGNITION, a 12-partner EU project bringing together government, academia, business, and communities to find innovative ways to finance urban nature-based solutions (NBS) that build resilience to climate change. Two years in, the project is on its way to providing the tools needed to increase take up of NBS in Greater Manchester. The project’s interim report summarises progress to date, lessons learned, and challenges still to be addressed. A virtual tour of the IGNITION Living Lab will be a feature of the Greater Manchester Natural Capital Group conference on 17-18 June.
Climate change, weather, housing precarity, and homelessness This systematic review of reviews, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health last month, was conducted to examine housing precarity and homelessness in relation to climate change and weather extremes internationally. In a thematic analysis of 15 reviews (5 systematic and 10 non-systematic), the review found 1) an increased risk of homelessness for people who are vulnerably housed and populations in lower socio-economic positions due to energy insecurity and climate change-induced natural hazards; 2) homeless/vulnerably-housed populations are disproportionately exposed to climatic events (temperature extremes and natural disasters); 3) the physical and mental health of homeless/vulnerably-housed populations is projected to be impacted by weather extremes and climate change; 4) while green infrastructure may have positive effects for homeless/vulnerably-housed populations, housing remains a major concern in urban environments; 5) structural changes must be implemented. The review includes recommendations for addressing the impact of climate change on homelessness and housing precarity, and suggests employing the Human Rights-Based Approach.
ISO 14090 training courses JBA Consulting and Climate Sense are developing a number of strands of training on ISO 14090, Adaptation to climate change — principles, requirements and guidelines. Courses have been well received by transport and fisheries sector organisations in Canada and the UK. More information can be found here. The training is not free but prices can be negotiated for local authorities and charities.
In case you missed it…The impacts of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing If you missed the webinar last month by the Institute for Global Health Innovation, you can watch the recording here. The Grantham Institute briefing paper ‘The impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing: current evidence and implications for policy and practice’ can be found here.
Job Opportunity: Sustainability Coordinator 59 Productions is an award-winning design studio and production company based in London and New York with a focus on ‘story driven design’ – finding new ways of telling amazing stories through innovative design. Their team of artists, architects, designers, writers, producers and technologists have helped create cultural moments around the world including the video design of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the design and creative direction of the David Bowie Is exhibition, the design of the historic projection-mapping artwork on the Washington Monument for Apollo 50 – Go for the Moon, and the design and delivery of the VR Documentary Grenfell: Our Home. They are seeking a part-time Sustainability Coordinator to help identify and address sustainability challenges related to Festival UK ’22, a programme of ten creative projects selected to bring people together and promote the UK’s creativity to the world. Find out more and apply by 8 June.
TCFD consultation and webinars The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is conducting a public consultation to inform its proposed guidance on climate-related metrics, targets, and transition plans, including the associated Portfolio Alignment Technical Supplement developed by its Portfolio Alignment Team. Responses to the consultation will help the TCFD improve the usefulness of its guidance across metrics and targets and strategy pillars and improve comparability across financial disclosures. The consultation will be open from 7 June to 7 July. There will also be two webinars providing a walkthrough of the consultation and a chance to ask questions. You can register for those on June 9 or June 10.
Heat mortality attributable to climate change This paper in Nature Climate Change uses empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure resulting from recent human-induced warming during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, it finds that 37 percent (range 20.5–76.3 percent) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. The findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change.