Examples of reflective notes on climate and health

Natural capital falls within my new portfolio area of 'healthy safe and resilient communities' as a wider determinant of health. This seminar was a presentation by academic partners on the work they had done to identify natural asses/capital across my area and the benefits of natural capital to health and wellbeing. 

I had not much knowledge prior to this session on natural capital, so was interested to learn the theories of biodiversity and the way it underpins produced and human capital, ie the economy. The links with public health are strong in relation to all biodiversity functional aspects: provisioning (food, timber, water), regulating (air quality, climate change) and cultural (recreational, health and wellbeing, aesthetic).

This knowledge provides me with a better understanding on which to have future conversations with colleagues about for example the supplementary planning documents, or informing neighbourhood plans and local green space design. The maps provide a good source of intelligence that we may be able to link to the JSNA to facilitate identification of opportunities for partners for example around water flow optimisation, woodland or habitat creation etc.

In the future I will likely need to identify some resource within my portfolio to move forwards work with planning colleagues to maximise the opportunities for public health involvement into this agenda and to make cross-links to other key areas of work such as climate change, air pollution, active travel and outdoor leisure opportunities.

I have recently taken on the lead for climate change and air quality is a key component of our response.

Transport related air pollution – did review  to look at exposure to transport related air pollution. Pedestrians and cyclist exposed to lower concentration but also depends on where they are. Car users higher concentrations.

AQ around schools: More than 50% of schools have exposure to particulate matter beyond WHO range. Consider factors around design. Schools with highest PM 2.5 range had significantly higher ethnic minority pupils.

Supporting LAs air quality health indicator toll (England) pilot. Health indicators include air pollution vulnerability indicators, walking and cycling journey utilisation of outdoor space health outcomes, population inequalities data, costs to healthcare. Tool now being updated including who guidelines and launch event early next year.

AQ challenge includes both the need to achieve 2020 and 2030 national emissions reduction targets for 5 harmful pollutants as well as challenge or reduce NOX concs around roads. The UK has signed up to ambitious legally binding target to reduce emission for five damaging air pollutants by 2020 and 2030. Air quality mainly declining except ammonia and some stagnation PM2.5. to meet emissions ceilings current actions going to miss PM2.5, Ammonia ceilings and NH3 in 2020 and for four pollutants in 2030 (NOX SO2 PM2.5 and ammonia and something else).
Doing review of LAQM.
Review of national air quality strategy
Under enviro act 1995 no obligation on the SOS to publish AQS the new environment bill have a duty to review and update the AQS within 12 months of the measures coming into force and every 5 years National strategy has focused previously on LA but no will recognise lots of key players.
Strategy will focus on local and national air quality frameworks, review local objectives, develop a stronger support capability building framework for local action and redevelop policies to reduce disproportionate impacts of poor air quality on vulnerable groups and communities.
Local examples
The London plan – spatial developed strategy 0 carbon and 0 pollution puts inequalities lens on it reducing faster in most deprived areas.

Selected 3 streets based on health inequalities data. Put in permanent and temporary measures (250k) around healthy streets concept. Are doing an evaluation. 

1. I am going to get up to speed with national legislation on this area.
2. I am going to read evidence reviews
3. I am going to re-engage with the lead for the HCC Air Quality Plan.

Look at opportunities for Healthy Streets training and engage with local councils re: developer contributions to mitigate against air pollution.

Since their establishment  and the inclusion of environmental public health among its function, senior managers have proposed to develop a strengthened function on Climate and Health Security. With my line manager and other senior colleagues, I worked on the potential synergy of objectives of our centre (Radiation Chemical Environment) with those of groups in UK public health economy actively involved on health effects of environmental change in general and climate change in particular, as well as others working on epidemiology and prevention of chronic disease, response and surveillance of chemical and environmental factors. I contributed several inputs to proposals on domestic and global public health that were included in organisation plans. I was nominated to lead a workstream on metrics based on my work on Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) and also as research lead on methods and models to study climate and health effects, and specifically choice of indicators relevant for monitoring such effects.

I attended strategic and logistic workshops and meetings, facilitated by public health leads appointed by interim Chief Scientific Advisor, and learnt about the key strategic and logistic priorities identified by senior managers in this area. I contributed to definitions and scope of work for UK public health as required by the metrics workstream and development of climate and health work in general, and I learnt about further national and international stakeholders relevant to this work.

I am going to continue to contribute to the current strategic and technical work, expected to lead to several organisational changes in the course of the year, in particular affecting the epidemiology, tracking and surveillance work I am responsible for.

I am going to review current arrangements for identifying and serving needs of stakeholders and role of partnerships within the public health system, that enable climate and health security arrangements to be conducive to effective public health work. I am going to focus on process for production of evidence regarding effectiveness of interventions that include complex packages of social and physical changes in relation to environmental determinants of chronic disease/health and wellbeing.

I had identified a personal development need around climate change and health. Declaration of a climate emergency, my longer term lead role for health on our biosphere board and the need to take action on this agenda within our public health team and in the city led to me suggesting an internal climate change and health group, an away day for our team of 50-60. To prepare for the away day and lead a presentation as part of the opening session, I attended online climate change training, a couple of sessions linked to COP26 and prepared a presentation from a selection of websites and other sources including joint work and discussions with our sustainability team.

I found the online new mandatory training from my local authority very useful in terms of the science and the technical information learnt and understood directly and through the many links and recommended programmes and short films and further reading. This included the science of green house gas emissions, more about personalised carbon footprints and what are the key components. For example as someone who works on food, food and health, healthy weight agendas it was very useful to learn that food is a quarter of our carbon footprint and that we can half it by:

1) eating everything to reduce waste;
2) not eating air freighted foods; and
3) reducing meat and dairy especially beef and lamb - very practical sustainability goals with health benefits alongside the environmental gains.

I used this learning to stimulate my thinking and that of the team, to identify what we are already doing (to build on), what we can start doing differently and thinking about differently and in particular what areas of action on climate change have direct health benefits too. At the team away day we collected and collated actions already underway on this agenda alongside planned actions relevant for our provider team, our commissioned programmes, our life as members of a workforce, in our home lives and as advocates for action that has positive outcomes for both health and the environment. Subsequent to the away day I have been planning and organised a regular meeting with with health colleagues including GPs and commissioners on this agenda.

This learning feels very much part of a work in progress. Complementary to this is the learning and related work around urban planning, air quality, low traffic neighbourhoods, active travel and physical activity, and climate change mitigation alongside prevention. In the next year these related areas will be part of my PDP as I hope to be part of the health in all polices approach to some of our more innovative planning and transport, and circular economy initiatives in the city.

I chose this activity as it relates to a new objective within my workplan for the year. This objective is to ascertain the opportunities for health improvement in local work on sustainability by my local area. Attendance at this conference was to raise my awareness of this topic area.

The conference focussed on the current climate emergency and the steps being taken to address this such as reducing global emissions, boosting public sector reporting to boost action, focussing on supply chains and the new Climate Plan and Adaptation Programme. Attendance at the conference raised my awareness of the need to challenge the pace, skills and finance of this work along with the challenge of rising energy costs. I also learned about No One Left Behind and place-based approaches such as the Place Standard Too with a Climate Change Lens, along with the need to consider sustainability with every decision. The conference highlighted the need to upskill staff and funding and about the need for public sector leadership. There was a lot to unpick such as within the green skills agenda with current resources and time pressures to affect change. I learned about what can be done to change our public buildings, the need for carbon literacy training and upskilling leaders and the move on from "carbon-obsession" along with adaptation policies from the Government and about the science/policy interface.

I feel that I need to consolidate this learning with my local partners. As I will be joining an established group working on this area locally, this learning has provided me with some ground knowledge with which to build on depending on local opportunities.

I will join the local sustainability partnership with a view to bringing a public health perspective to the discussions. I will also link with our specialty registrar with knowledge in this area to direct me to further, relevant information to build my own knowledge.