Climate action for sustainable global health through mitigation and adaptation

Abstract The health of environment and the health of human beings are major concerns today for developing nations. Sustainable development goals are acting as a strategic concern for every nation’s policy framework, but also parallels the aggressive development that an economy strives to achieve. Therefore, it is necessary to find such ways that are practical in terms of adaptability. The current study focuses on two relevant SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), i.e., SDG 13 and SDG 3. SDG 13 will act as an indicator for climate health, and SDG 3 will act as an indicator for human health. The study systematically derives the existing gaps and opportunities in integrating climate-resilient policies into healthcare systems to enhance synergies between SDG 13 and SDG 3. For doing this, relevant research documents were identified through a systematic literature review for targeting two SDGs through single policy frameworks. The core idea is that if targeting one SDG can help in the achievement of another, the game would be easier to win. On conducting a detailed review, it was found that the gaps exist in policy coordination, financing, and infrastructure, while opportunities lie in climate-smart healthcare planning and cross-sectoral governance. If these gaps are filled through future studies and government interventions, by targeting SDG 13, SDG 3 will be automatically achieved to the greatest. The study further suggests that to reduce health inequalities, it is necessary to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change by using renewable energy sources and reducing carbon footprints.