Climate and Health at COP30

A conversation with Stuart Brocklehurst, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Business Engagement at the University of Exeter,  from COP30 in Belém 

Halfway through COP30 in Belém, Brazil, something significant is emerging from the negotiations, pavilions, and late-night discussions: health is moving up the climate agenda in ways we haven’t seen before. 

Deputy Vice Chancellor for Business Engagement at the University of Exeter, Stuart Brocklehurst, speaking to our Communications and Impact Manager Philippa Mina, from inside the sprawling Blue Zone built on an airport runway, describes a shift in how people are thinking about climate action. “One of the things I’ve picked up in general conversation is whether we’re getting to a stage where a greater understanding of the impact that climate has on health may be one of the future drivers of climate action,” he explains. This isn’t just wishful thinking from health advocates—it’s a conversation happening across sectors, among policymakers, negotiators, and business leaders who are looking at the bigger picture of what will actually motivate change.

Why Health Matters Now 

For too long, climate and health have been treated as separate issues. Climate conversations focused on carbon budgets, emissions targets, and economic impacts. Health discussions rarely centred the environmental determinants that fundamentally shape wellbeing. But as the evidence mounts—from heat-related deaths to the spread of vector-borne diseases, from respiratory impacts of wildfire smoke to mental health consequences of climate displacement—this artificial separation is becoming impossible to maintain. 

The timing matters. With 145 different subjects on the COP30 agenda and no single clear focus like previous years, there’s a risk of losing momentum. But the growing recognition that climate change is a health crisis affecting real people in their daily lives could provide the moral clarity and urgency that drives action. 

Science Taking Centre Stage 

One of the most encouraging developments at this COP is the prominence of science in framing the discussions. The global carbon budget, led by researchers at Exeter and involving almost 100 universities worldwide, has received unprecedented coverage. Work on climate tipping points has been used by the COP presidency itself to communicate urgency—including the cascade of adverse impacts we face, and crucially, the cascade of positive tipping points that could help pull us back. 

This scientific grounding is essential for understanding the health dimensions of climate change. As Stuart notes, “We have to ensure that science sits at the centre of all decision making here because if policy goes down its own rabbit hole… you can get separated from what it is that’s driving us spending this time talking about it all in the first place.” 

When we keep health impacts visible in climate negotiations, we keep human lives at the centre. We remember that behind every decimal point of warming are real health outcomes—more heat stroke cases, increased malnutrition, greater disease burden, and premature deaths. 

Breaking Down Silos 

Addressing the interconnection between climate and health demands exactly the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration that Stuart emphasises. “We have to reach out beyond our comfort zones,” he says. “We have to speak not just with the people who already agree with us.” 

This isn’t just about bringing different academic disciplines together—though that matters enormously. It’s about engaging policymakers, healthcare providers, urban planners, energy specialists, and communities on the frontlines. It’s about recognising that solutions to climate change that ignore health impacts aren’t really solutions at all, and that health interventions that don’t account for climate realities won’t build the resilience we need.” 

The Net Positive Centre’s focus on identifying net positive health effects from climate adaptation and mitigation actions exemplifies this approach. Every climate solution should be assessed not just for its carbon impact, but for its health co-benefits or potential harms. 

The Human Face of Climate Change 

Perhaps most importantly, the health lens forces us to confront who is most affected by climate change. “The people who will be most affected by climate change and are already being affected are those who have the least ability to do anything about it,” Stuart observes. “It’s the poorest countries, the poorest communities who are most at risk.” 

Health inequalities and climate vulnerabilities are deeply intertwined. Those with the least capacity to adapt—living in flood-prone areas, working in extreme heat, lacking access to healthcare infrastructure—face the greatest health threats. Meanwhile, the younger you are, the more climate change will impact your health across your lifetime.” 

This inequality isn’t abstract. It’s about lethal humidity making regions uninhabitable, crop failures leading to malnutrition, disease vectors expanding into new territories, and healthcare systems overwhelmed by climate-related health emergencies. 

Urgency Meets Opportunity 

Despite the challenges, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Global emissions are slightly down this year. Thirty-five countries have reduced fossil fuel emissions while their economies grew, proving that climate action doesn’t require economic sacrifice. These are the positive narratives we need to share alongside the urgency. 

As Stuart puts it: “We still have the opportunity to step back from the most catastrophic scenarios”—scenarios that would see hundreds of millions of lives prematurely lost. “Even if you just want to look at this in a sort of cost-benefit analysis and ignore the human factors… failure to take action is going to be dramatically more expensive than taking action.” 

What This Means for All of Us 

The conversation about climate and health isn’t happening in isolation at COP30. It’s part of a broader shift in understanding that our health and our planet’s health are inseparable. Every decision about energy, transport, food systems, and urban planning is ultimately a decision about health outcomes. 

We can’t afford to keep these conversations in separate rooms. Health professionals need to engage with climate policy. Climate advocates need to centre health impacts. Researchers need to work across disciplines. Communities need to be heard. And all of us need to recognise that climate change isn’t a future threat—it’s a present health crisis.