Environmental Health Research Unit

As per the World Bank Report ‘Turn Down the Heat’ climate change is expected to have major health impacts in India, with the likelihood of the poor being affected more severely. For example, child stunting is projected to increase by 35% by 2050 compared to a scenario without climate change. Heat waves are likely to result in a very substantial rise in mortality and death, and injuries from extreme weather events are likely to increase. The Government of India has accorded top priority to the issue of climate change with the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. 

CPHR conducts research in India and other low-and middle-income countries to support decision-making relating to the impacts of climate change, planetary health, and other environmental changes that affect human health. 

Activities

CPHR prioritizes climate action through this unit, which investigates the health impacts of climate change in India and other low- and middle-income countries. This research supports decision-making on issues such as increased heatwave mortality, post-cyclone morbidity, tidal surges, child stunting, human trafficking, and child marriage linked to climate change.

The People’s Science Centre, a branch of MANT focusing on climate change in India, won the 2023 Grassroots Science Advice Promotion Awards from INGSA-Asia. With this support, the centre is trying to elevate tribal perspectives on climate change, address livestock, agriculture, and health challenges, foster stakeholder dialogue, and synthesize these discussions into a comprehensive report. A policy brief based on this report will be distributed following the general election.  

Additionally, CPHR-MANT has launched a systematic review of the relationship between climate change and vector-borne diseases in India with the protocol.

Recently, we secured a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to conduct case studies on climate change adaptation strategies and their public health impacts, focusing on the dynamics of epidemics following cyclones and tidal surges in the Bay of Bengal region.