What if climate action could improve our health our environment and reduce inequality?

A few weeks on from this year’s Exeter Climate Forum one conversation continues to resonate..

The session, “Triple Win Opportunities in Responding to Climate Change: Improving the Environment, Health and Health Equity,” brought together experts from the University of Exeter, UK Health Security Agency, Natural England, the National Trust and Forest Research to explore a simple but ambitious question:

What does a net positive future look like?

Their answers form the basis of our latest film.

Rather than focusing solely on the risks of climate change, the discussion looked beyond adaptation to the future we want to create—one where action on climate also improves people’s health, restores nature and reduces inequalities.

Dr Helen Macintyre, from the UK Health Security Agency and Deputy Co-Director of the Net Positive Centre reminds us that:

“Climate change is ultimately a health issue.”

Climate change affects the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the places we live and work. But responding to it also presents an opportunity to rethink how we design our communities, food systems and public spaces.

Penny Marno from Natural England describes a future where:

“Nature is seen as critical health and climate infrastructure—it shifts from a nice-to-have to a must-have.”

Across the discussion, a common thread emerged: the most effective climate solutions are those that deliver multiple benefits. Professor Tim Taylor, Director of the Net Positive Centre stresses this clearly,

“What we should really have in all policies is health, health equity and environmental improvement.”

This is the idea of the “triple win”—finding solutions that improve the environment, support healthier lives and tackle inequalities simultaneously.

Achieving that vision will require collaboration across disciplines and sectors, bringing together expertise in health, planning, transport, food systems, ecology, policy and the social sciences, while ensuring the voices of communities are part of shaping the future.

Perhaps the strongest message to emerge was this as expressed by Dr Helen Macintyre,

“We’ve characterised the risks. Now we need to focus on what we want.”

That’s exactly what the Net Positive Centre exists to do: bringing together research and practice to help create a future that is healthier, fairer and better for the environment.

Watch the film below to hear our perspectives on what a net positive future could look like—and why achieving a ‘triple win’ matters more than ever.