Addressing climate change represents a significant opportunity to improve public health and advance health equity.
CDPH Climate Change & Health Equity (CCHE) Branch
The Climate Change and Health Equity (CCHE) Branch embeds health and equity in California climate change planning, and embeds climate change and equity in public health planning. CCHE works with local, state, and national partners to assure that climate change mitigation and adaptation activities have beneficial effects on health while not exacerbating already existing unfair and preventable differences in health status of some groups (health inequities). CCHE implements Californiaās climate change laws and executive orders, contributing health equity considerations.
Climate Action and Advancing Health Equity
Climate change and health inequities share similar root causes: the inequitable distribution of social, political, and economic power. These power imbalances result in systems (economic, transportation, land use, etc.) and conditions that drive both health inequities and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a result, we see communities with inequitable living conditions, such as low-income communities of color living in more polluted areas, facing climate change impacts that compound and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. Fair and healthy climate action requires addressing the inequities that create and intensify community vulnerabilities, through strategically directing extra investments in improving living conditions for and with people facing disadvantage. The CCHE Branch provides health equity input into Californiaās plans for transportation, housing, land use planning, and other systems that affect both health outcomes and vulnerability to climate change impacts.
The good news is that addressing climate change represents a significant opportunity to improve public health and advance health equity. Many actions that limit climate change also improve the health of families and communities and reduce health inequities.
| āInclusive economic prosperity Invest in economic drivers such as schools and
small businesses, sustainable and inclusive business practices, policies that reduce
income inequality, fair and accountable public institutions | - āIncrease access to resources and opportunities
- Promote equity and just transition
- Reduce health care costs
- Improve physical and mental health outcomes, especially with reducing infant / child deaths and chronic diseases
- Increase life expectancy
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āCreate safe, stable, living wage, green jobs
Prioritize economically disadvantaged communities for labor and workforce development
| - āPromote equity and just transition
- Reduce poverty
- Reduce work-related injuries and deaths
- Improve outcomes across many indicators of health and well-being
- Reduce health care costs
- Increase life expectancy
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āReduced vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
Active transportation (walking, biking, public transit) | - āIncrease physical activity
- Improve mental health
- Reduce chronic disease
- Reduce air pollution
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Reduce emissions through land use changes
Transit oriented and infill development | - āIncrease physical activity
- Increase access to services
- Reduce chronic disease
- Enhance safety
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āReduce energy intensity in local food systems
Buy local, farmers markets, gardens, reduce consumption of red and processed meats | - āIncrease access to healthy and fresh foods
- Reduce air pollution
- Increase resilience
- Improve cardiovascular health
- Increase social cohesion
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āāUrban and community greening
Tree planting, parks, green infrastructure | - āReduce temperature and urban heat island effects
- Reduce air pollution
- Reduce noise
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āReducing building energy use
Energy efficiency, weatherization, cool roofs / green roofs, water conservation | - āReduce energy costs
- Create local green jobs
- Promote healthy homes
- Promote cooler communities
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