Abstract
This paper presents a detailed description of an approach designed to investigate the application of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) framework to assess the potential health impacts of climate change. A HIA framework has been combined with key climate change terminology and concepts. The fundamental premise of this framework is an understanding of the interactions between people, the environment and climate. The diversity and complexity of these interactions can hinder much needed action on the critical health issue of climate change. The objectives of the framework are to improve the methodology for understanding and assessing the risks associated with potential health impacts of climate change, and to provide decision-makers with information that can facilitate the development of effective adaptation plans. While the process presented here provides guidance with respect to this task it is not intended to be prescriptive. As such, aspects of the process can be amended to suit the scope and available resources of each project. A series of working tables has been developed to assist in the collation of evidence throughout the process. The framework has been tested in a number of locations including Western Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Nauru.
Highlights
Human health and well-being are inextricably linked to climate via a large number of environmental, social and economic variables [1,2]
The use of the established Health Impact Assessment (HIA) framework complemented with terminology and tools designed for the issue of climate change provides users with a solid foundation to tackle a complex and sometimes overwhelming issue
There is widespread agreement that human health and well-being will be influenced by climate change in many ways
Summary
Human health and well-being are inextricably linked to climate via a large number of environmental, social and economic variables [1,2]. It is clear that change to temperature, rainfall, extreme events and sea-level will have impacts on health and that current strategies to address these may prove ineffective. The scope and extent of climate-related health impacts will be strongly influenced by location and it is paramount that strategies to adapt to climate change are formulated at the national, regional and local level. HIA has been acknowledged as a valuable tool for identifying and assessing the multiple pathways that link climate change to human health [9,10,11]. In addition to the procedural steps typically used in HIA, the framework presented here includes practical tools that have been developed to provide guidance on the specific issue of climate change. The framework and working tables enable a comparison of findings between locations and periodic updating of assessments
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