Systematic overview of climate actions for health in cities
Abstract Many climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in cities have potential co-impacts for health. This overview of relevant systematic reviews appraises and summarizes available evidence of the effects of implemented city-level actions addressing climate change and health impacts. On the basis of an assessment of confidence in the findings of the 60 reviews identified, the findings from 49 were included in the analysis. Most evidence focused on climate mitigation actions in the transport and buildings sectors and on urban form. Health co-benefits mainly resulted from increased active transport or improved housing. Where reviews provided measures of effect, they suggested only modest impacts on climate and health outcomes from single-sector actions. We found no published evidence of city-wide implementation of cross-sectoral transformative actions needed to achieve climate change targets and large-scale health co-benefits. More ambitious policies, together with rigorous evaluation of their impacts, are needed to attain and demonstrate these outcomes.
Authors
- James Milner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0304-639X)
- Sarah Whitmee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9161-868X)
- Kristine Belesova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6160-5041)
- Melanie A. Crane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3058-2211)
- Robert C. Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1345-3063)
- Catalina Turcu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2663-2586)
- Lorna Benton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4548-5024)
- Tamzin Reynolds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5812-9091)
- Peninah Murage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4506-0897)
- Blanca Anton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3991-9690)
- Hugh Sharma Waddington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3859-3342)
- Roberto Picetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4756-5271)
- Emma J. Hutchinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0618-0068)
- Andy Haines (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8053-4605)
- Jane Falconer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7329-0577)
- Paul Wilkinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7456-259X)
- Rosemary Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5850-6715)
- Tobias Magnus Schuster
- MIKE DAVIES
- Rebecca Newbould (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1704-7656)
- Simon Lloyd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9728-8674)
- Samaryah Sammut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0014-2991)
- Vidushi Bahl
- Ai Milojevic
Institutions
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Public Health England (GB)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- University College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Cities
- Published
- 2026-09-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00515-y
- Primary Topic
- Climate Change and Health Impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00