Wellcome responds to UK Climate Change Committee report

Alan Dangour, Director of Climate and Health at Wellcome said:

“We must put people’s health at the heart of climate solutions. The latest report from the UK’s Climate Change Committee on the failure to prepare for floods, heatwaves, drought and wildfires means we are collectively failing to protect people – particularly children, older people and lower-resourced communities – from death, disease and ill-health.

“Our changing climate negatively affects our diet, the air we breathe, the heat stress on our body, our mental health and increases the risks in the UK to food-borne or water-borne infections as well as disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes.

“But there are solutions and the UK’s leadership in science can show the way. From clean energy to climate-resilient farming practices, there are already evidence-based solutions having a positive impact on our health. And the solutions we develop and scale-up now could have major benefits for human health around the world.

“The UK Government knows it must make a step change in its plans to adapt and mitigate against climate change, and Wellcome is working to ensure that robust scientific evidence drives policy and action.”