Table 1 Policy matrix for addressing climate-related health inequality
From: Climate adaptation and resilience must account for context and culture
Dimension | Subtype | Policy agenda focus | Strategic pathway |
|---|---|---|---|
Exposure and basic resource inequity | Occupational exposure | Legislation on climate-related labour protection and outdoor work safety | Establish extreme weather work suspension standards; subsidize cooling and shading facilities |
Age and intergenerational | Include elderly and child vulnerability in adaptation policy indicators | Expand intergenerational care and support systems at household and community levels | |
Gender | Counter climate’s gendered impacts on care, body image and resource access | Support caregivers; challenge norms; ensure gender-sensitive resource access and health | |
Spatial and geographic | Enhance public services and climate investment in non-central areas | Create spatially just frameworks for adaptation resource allocation | |
Income and resource access | Improve cooling, diet and housing for low-income populations | Subsidize air conditioning and energy efficiency; expand universal nutrition support | |
Housing and infrastructure | Upgrade adaptation capacity in ageing and informal settlements | Upgrade community infrastructure; set minimum standards for climate-resilient housing | |
Regional climate and hazard frequency | Develop regional risk mapping and forecasting systems | Develop real-time risk monitoring and meteorological health integration | |
Adaptive capacity and system responsiveness | Healthcare accessibility | Establish multi-level resilient healthcare networks | Expand mobile and telehealth systems; avoid disruption during climate stress |
Food system exposure | Ensure food quality and accessibility during extreme weather | Build resilient local food systems and nutrition response plans | |
Mental health and social resilience | Integrate mental health into climate adaptation and emergency planning | Establish local mental health hubs; train frontline workers in psychological first aid | |
Information access and risk communication | Close information gaps and improve risk comprehension for vulnerable groups | Develop multilingual early warning systems and local outreach coalitions | |
Educational and climate health literacy | Promote universal education on climate and health literacy | Integrate into school curricula and promote through public media and community facilitators | |
Digital literacy and technology access | Promote inclusive digital health tools for the elderly and disadvantaged | Simplify digital tool access and training; fund user-friendly interfaces | |
Multimorbidity and chronic condition adaptation | Include populations with multimorbidity in adaptation service planning | Incorporate chronic illness data into adaptation models and design custom care packages | |
Procedural and representational inequity | Gender-based structural | Implement gender-responsive adaptation plans and care support | Support post-disaster and chronic women’s health; provide gender mainstreaming training |
Global north–south development gap | Equitably allocate climate finance and technology transfer | Establish targeted funds and platforms for global south climate-health programs | |
Governance participation and cultural adaptation | Empower marginalized groups in policy design and resource allocation | Ensure procedural justice via co-creation workshops and local pilots | |
Racial and ethnic minority | Address structural marginalization of minority groups in climate crises | Include ethnic stratification and discrimination indicators in climate-health assessments | |
Exclusion of migrants and undocumented persons | Ensure visibility and service inclusion for migrants and undocumented persons | Create climate migrant IDs and portable health entitlements |
