Grant: Catalyst Grant: CPHO Report - General Pool

Globally, there is an emerging awareness of the nature of climate change as a "threat multiplier" - in that climate change is a phenomenon that exacerbates existing health disparities. In the Canadian context, poverty creates vulnerability to the effects of climate change due to a lack of i) adequate shelter and exposure to the array of direct and indirect threats such as illness, injury, loss of livelihood, food and water insecurity, (ii) social, financial and knowledge resources. Moreover, current climate change mitigation and adaptation plans often fail to consider their needs, potentially worsening their circumstances. The proposed project leverages a recently established network of thought leaders in Canada working to address health equity in the face of climate change. Focussing on women, children and youth, and older adults experiencing poverty, and attending to diversity within and across these groups, this project will (i) map key decision makers and experts who can speak to this topic, (ii) interview these individuals regarding risks and promising responses, (iii) identify data sources that can be used in the future to target responses, (iv) identify points in the complex system of climate change-health impacts that are leveraged with respect to public health interventions. These activities will occur alongside scoping literature reviews and participatory action projects that meaningfully engage lived experience. This project will deliver a response strategy that aligns with the priorities of the Public Health Action on Climate Change report. It will serve as a jumping-off point for an array of initiatives that can lead to a better understanding of the climate change impacts on the health of people experiencing poverty alongside feasible and leveraged possibilities for response. The work of this project team will be foundational as Canada prepares to face the daunting health crisis resulting from our changing climate.