Project Summary
Standards for Official Statistics on Climate-Health Interactions is a four-year project (2022 to 2026) funded by Wellcome (Grant number: 224682/Z/21/Z). Our aim is to develop a statistical framework and unified methods for official reporting of climate impacts on health, as well as open-source tools to facilitate the production of climate-health statistics. The project is a collaboration between the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda , the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana , the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Cochrane Planetary Health Thematic Group (hosted at University of Alberta, Canada). This online knowledge sharing platform is hosted by the UN Global Platform .
Project Overview
Our aim is to develop a standardised and globally generalisable statistical framework and online platform for the production of official statistics on climate and health. We are developing a set of statistical methods to better estimate climate-related health risk. The statistical framework and open-source tools will facilitate the production of high-quality statistics, for use by producers of official statistics, decision-makers, and researchers.
Our statistical framework will cover the following topics:
- Heat and cold
- Extreme weather events - flooding and wildfires
- Air pollution and airborne diseases
- Waterborne diseases
- Vector-borne diseases
- Undernutrition
- Mental health
- Chemical contaminants
- Healthcare systems and facilities
We work with leading experts in climate and health research to develop our statistical indicators. We hold a regular Expert Advisory Group as well as topic-specific meetings with experts from academia and other global stakeholders. This ensures that the project draws on best practice and the latest methods developments in the climate and health space.
Previous and upcoming events
- The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) - Baku, Azerbaijan - 11 to 22 November 2024
- 4th Global Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Disaster-related Statistics - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - 28 October to 1 November 2024
- Climate and Health Africa Conference - Harare, Zimbabwe - 29 to 31 October 2024
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Joint Task Force on Environmental Statistics and Indicators - Geneva, Switzerland - 17 to 18 October 2024
- Expert Group on Environment and Climate Change Statistics (EG-ECCS) PDF document - New York, USA - 15 October 2024
- Turning Science into Action: Shaping indicators to Advance Health-Protective Policies in a Changing Climate - Bellagio, Italy - 8 to 12 October 2024
- The British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference - Bath, UK - 9 to 11 September 2024
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Expert Forum for Producers of Climate Change-related Statistics - Geneva, Switzerland - 29 to 30 August 2024
- Global Health Security Conference - Sydney, Australia - 18 to 21 June 2024
- United Nations 8th International Conference on Big Data & Data Science for Official Statistics - Bilbao, Spain - 10 to 14 June 2024
- 55th Session United Nations Statistical Commission - New York, USA - 28 February to 3 March 2024
- The United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28) - Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 30 November to 12 December 2023
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Climate Change-Related Statistics - Geneva, Switzerland - 28 to 30 August 2023
- AIMS Rwanda project launch - Kigali, Rwanda - 28 July 2023
Contact
Please email climate.health@ons.gov.uk to be added to the mailing list for our Stakeholder update.
Related links
This project is funded by Wellcome (Grant number 224682/Z/21/Z). The project is a collaboration between the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda, the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Cochrane Planetary Health Thematic Group (hosted at University of Alberta, Canada). This online knowledge sharing platform is hosted by the UN Global Platform.
Funded by Wellcome
Wellcome is a global charitable foundation with the goal of supporting science to solve the urgent health issues facing everyone. Wellcome fund research into the biggest health challenges facing humanity including climate change, infectious disease, and mental health.
The Office for National Statistics is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a pan-African network of Centres of Excellence for postgraduate training in mathematical sciences and research. AIMS Rwanda is one of the institutions under the AIMS Global Network.
The Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the University of Ghana is an institute for research and training in population and health sciences.
The United Nations Global Platform is an initiative of the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is a collaborative network of people and organisations and a cloud-service ecosystem for data, services and applications.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is an executive agency of the UK government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). UKHSA is responsible for protecting public health and building the UK’s health security capability by providing scientific and operational leadership at local, national and global levels.
The Cochrane Planetary Health Thematic Group within Cochrane that provides an important role in preparing and disseminating evidence syntheses relevant to the health impacts of climate change.