Climate Change Solutions Update

Category: Health & Education

  • Encoding Resilience: A vision for climate action

    The Techonomy Climate Conference emphasized the importance of integrating nature into climate change strategies, highlighting the One Earth Solutions Framework and Climate Model as tools for sustainable solutions. The framework focuses on renewable energy, nature conservation, and regenerative agriculture, supported by global climate science. The need for strategic thinking, education, and holistic approaches in developing climate tech solutions was discussed, along with the importance of protecting natural areas with deep biodiversity. Embracing Indigenous knowledge, community-led solutions, and grassroots efforts are key to achieving sustainable outcomes and addressing climate change effectively.

    https://www.oneearth.org/techonomy-climate-encoding-resilience-2024/

  • Local creative power in Philadelphia: Inside climate cultura Pennsylvania

    Latino creatives in Philadelphia recently gathered for the Climate Cultura program, which focused on clean energy, public health, and storytelling to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on Black, brown, and low-income communities in Pennsylvania. The event aimed to make clean energy solutions feel local, personal, and actionable through storytelling that resonates with communities, highlighting local examples of progress and hope in addressing climate and energy challenges. The program empowers creators to bring climate conversations into traditionally overlooked spaces, collaborating on projects to spark discussions around clean energy and climate solutions. By building relationships and creating a national network of Latino storytellers, the goal is to shift the conversation around climate and ensure that stories of impacted communities are told by those living them, making the clean energy transition more inclusive and community-driven.

    https://generation180.org/blog/climate-cultura-philly/

  • NLR Partners With Colorado School of Mines and University of Utah To Scale Up US Critical Minerals Capacity

    The National Laboratory of the Rockies has signed memorandums of understanding with the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Utah to strengthen America's energy and material supply chains through critical minerals innovation, commercialization, and workforce development. The partnerships aim to scale up technologies for stronger supply chains and energy security, enabling integrated research and facility sharing to support concept-to-commercialization scalability of critical minerals innovations and build a skilled domestic workforce. The collaboration includes launching new facilities for critical minerals research and innovation in Colorado, focusing on advancing technologies related to materials supply chains, critical minerals, advanced materials, and manufacturing using AI-enabled science workflows and high-performance computing. These partnerships aim to accelerate innovation, education, and workforce development in the field of climate solutions, leveraging the capabilities of academic institutions to address challenges in energy resilience and critical minerals research.

    https://cleantechnica.com/2026/05/18/nlr-partners-with-colorado-school-of-mines-and-university-of-utah-to-scale-up-us-critical-minerals-capacity/

  • Health risks from climate change spur stronger public support for action, research finds

    A study found that informing people about health risks linked to climate change is more effective in spurring public support for government-led climate action than messages focused on economic or environmental impacts. Over 80% of participants in a survey across Brazil, India, Japan, and South Africa expressed concern about climate change impacts and backed government measures to prevent public health impacts. The World Health Organization stated that humanitarian emergencies are increasing worldwide due to human-caused rising temperatures, with over a third of the global population exposed to climate threats. Communicating these risks to the public can inspire climate action, as health is a universal concern. Despite pledges to strengthen policies to cut carbon emissions and improve health sector resilience to climate impacts, health has not been a top priority at key climate meetings. Different countries had varying reactions to climate change messaging, with South Africans concerned about children's health and food/water insecurity, Brazilians focused on mental health impacts, and Japanese prioritizing extreme heat. In India, air pollution and access to healthcare were top concerns. Respondents across countries supported government action to address health impacts of climate change, with measures like building solar capacity and investing in air-conditioned public buildings being popular. Experts emphasized the urgency of implementing climate action to protect human health, calling for declaring climate change a global health emergency and scaling up climate-health investment. The article section discusses the importance of climate action as a high-return investment for a more just and resilient society. The Wellcome Trust's survey shows that the public supports stronger action on climate change, with a focus on health being an effective way to engage new audiences. The health angle is seen as a fresh approach to climate dialogue, as it is personal, relevant, and depolarizing. While economic messages still have a purpose, health messaging could be a "missing piece" in climate communications, providing a new way to talk about climate change that feels very relevant to people.

    https://www.climatechangenews.com/2026/05/18/health-risks-from-climate-change-spur-stronger-public-support-for-action-research-finds/

  • UKHACC News Bulletin May 2026 – UK Health Alliance on Climate Change

    The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change has appointed a new Director, Charlie Brown, who brings extensive charity leadership and influencing experience. The government has committed to clean energy expansion, including ending new oil and gas licenses and banning fracking and coal licenses. Leaders of 57 countries met to develop plans to end reliance on fossil fuels, focusing on national roadmaps and addressing harmful subsidies. There is an upcoming lobby day in Parliament to support the Ten Point Plan on Plant-Rich Diets, endorsed by over 60 organizations including the UKHACC. The section also discusses upcoming events related to climate solutions in the healthcare sector, such as the Lancet MedZero global database for carbon analytics in healthcare and the SusQI Showcase highlighting sustainability in quality improvement projects. Cities are taking action on climate change to achieve health benefits, with initiatives like the West Midlands Climate-Health Explorer and CleanMed Europe 2026 conference. The importance of creating healthier and more sustainable food systems in the UK, integrating sustainability into oversight processes, educating health professionals on climate change, and understanding the impact of extreme weather events on mental health is emphasized. The newsletter mentioned in the section can be subscribed to for updates on climate solutions and invites submissions for inclusion in future editions.

    https://ukhealthalliance.org/news-item/ukhacc-news-bulletin-may-2026/

  • Achieving Safer Schools Across Pakistan

    The World Bank and GFDRR supported Pakistan in developing a risk-informed approach to prioritize school infrastructure after the 2022 floods, focusing on integrating risk into routine planning and providing engineering guidance for repair and reconstruction. A conference in 2025 emphasized the urgency of addressing vulnerabilities and shared responsibility to ensure safe learning environments for children. The project aims to help provinces make more risk-informed investment decisions and create safer schools and a more resilient education system through proactive, risk-informed planning. Pakistan is highlighted as an example of building a resilient education system for future generations, with standardized technical specifications for rehabilitation and reconstruction and improved coordination among government and partners to reduce education disruptions and prevent dropouts and learning losses.

    https://www.gfdrr.org/en/blog/safer-schools-pakistan

  • From Classrooms to Communities: Education for Climate Action in Cameroon – Global Center on Adaptation

    Cameroon faces climate challenges such as unpredictable rainfall patterns and rising temperatures, but a youth-led initiative called Enhancing Climate Education in Schools for Sustainable Climate Action is working to bridge the gap between high-level climate policies and practical knowledge at the community level. Climate Change and Innovation Clubs have been established to empower students with skills and knowledge for climate adaptation, reaching over 5,000 students, planting over 400 trees, and establishing regenerative school gardens since their launch in 2024. The importance of youth leadership in advancing climate adaptation in Africa, particularly in Cameroon, is highlighted, showing that investing in youth leadership is essential for sustainable and long-term climate adaptation. These initiatives demonstrate that young people can be effective agents of change in bridging the gap between policy and practice at the community level.

    https://gca.org/from-classrooms-to-communities-education-for-climate-action-in-cameroon/

  • Testing the Waters Together: Launching The mCDR Forum

    The mCDR Forum has been launched to facilitate cross-sector discussions on marine carbon dioxide removal, addressing concerns about governance, environmental integrity, and equity. Led by Carbon180, Ocean Conservancy, and the Carbon Business Council, the forum aims to create a neutral space for diverse actors to share information, surface concerns, and explore responsible pathways forward in the mCDR field. By supporting dialogue and learning, collective insights can inform research priorities, governance frameworks, and funding decisions to advance responsible progress in addressing climate solutions. Interested individuals and organizations are encouraged to join the conversation by registering for the forum.

    https://carbon180.org/blog/testing-the-waters-together-launching-the-mcdr-forum/

  • Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance framework helps Mexican Red Cross strengthen communities’ ability to withstand climate impacts

    Mexico is vulnerable to various climate-related risks, with water-related events accounting for 80% of disaster costs from 2000 to 2022. The Mexican Red Cross is implementing the Climate Resilience Measurement for Communities framework in Mexicali and Sotavento to address extreme heat and flooding risks. Improved infrastructure and protective equipment like air conditioning are being used in Mexicali to safeguard health and livelihoods, with a focus on enhancing nature-based solutions and community brigades for disaster preparedness. Resilience fairs are engaging community members in measuring CRMC and raising awareness of risks, empowering local actors to lead resilience efforts in Mexico.

    https://www.climatecentre.org/16705/zurich-climate-resilience-alliance-framework-helps-mexican-red-cross-strengthen-communities-ability-to-withstand-climate-impacts/

  • Carnegie Mellon University’s Amy Gottsegen and Randy Sargent on helping people answer the question: Is it safe to breathe outside today?

    The plumes tool developed by Amy Gottsegen and Randy Sargent at Carnegie Mellon University's CREATE Lab, in partnership with Climate TRACE, tracks the movement of harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air to help communities understand and address the impact of air pollution on their health. By documenting pollution with maps and videos, community members in Pittsburgh were able to drive positive change, resulting in the shutdown of a facility and a decrease in pediatric asthma cases. The tool, which models pollution plumes based on various data sources, aims to connect global greenhouse gas emissions with local health impacts, empowering communities to advocate for change and drive meaningful action towards reducing pollution. The collaboration with Climate TRACE has enabled the creation of a tool that provides access to consistent global datasets, allowing users to visualize PM2.5 pollution coming out of local facilities and moving across cities.

    https://climatetrace.org/news/carnegie-mellon-university-s-amy-gottsegen-and-randy-sargent-on-helping-people-answer-the-question-is-it-safe-to-breathe-outside-today