Launched: Highly Anticipated 2022 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Policy Brief for the U.S.
2022 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change U.S. Policy Brief
On October 25th, the highly anticipated sixth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change U.S. Policy Brief was released. The Harvard Global Health Institute serves as the host institution for this work – led by HGHI affiliate faculty member and Senior Author of the Brief, Dr. Renee Salas.
This U.S. Brief is a collective consensus of the nation’s leading climate change and health experts from more than 80 organizations from around the country – spanning the federal government, academia, professional societies, and NGOs. The 2022 U.S. Brief uses country-specific indicator data from the 2022 global Lancet Countdown report, as well as other recent scientific studies, to expose the inequitable health risks of climate change, including heat, air pollution, infectious disease, and mental health. It also highlights opportunities to improve health through swift action, highlighting five key policy recommendations crafted by the Working Group. This report stresses that while we all experience these health risks, they fall hardest on people of color and low-income communities.
You can now access the HTML version of the report, as well as the downloadable English and Spanish PDFs HERE.
2022 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Launch Event
On October 26th, The Lancet Countdown U.S. Policy Brief Authors convened for the 2022 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change U.S. Virtual Launch Event (full recording above).
The launch event included esteemed keynote presentations, dynamic panel discussions by top experts, and presentations by the U.S. Brief authors. The U.S. Launch speakers included Senior Director for Environmental Justice at the White House Council on Environmental Quality – Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome, Acting Director of HHS’s Office of Climate Change and Health Equity – Dr. John Balbus, and others working at the intersection of climate change, health, and equity.
The launch also featured a one on one conversation between Dr. Renee Salas and Former White House National Climate Advisor, Gina McCarthy (access a full recording of their conversation HERE).
You can access the event recording and learn more about our speakers HERE.
Summaries and Additional Materials
This year’s Brief was accompanied by a suite of supporting materials in English and Spanish, including items written by Working Group members: Appendix featuring case studies, critical insight summaries, and tables; Executive Summary; Summary for the General Public; Breakdown of the New Science; Summary for Medical Professionals; Regional Summaries for the South, West, Midwest, and Northeast.
These materials were generated to serve as living tools, meant to be used to strengthen and amplify existing work around climate change and health.
You can access and download the Appendix HERE and the suite of supporting materials HERE.