Shared Narrative on Health, Nature and Climate

Strong partnership working is key to achieving greater and more equal access to nature for public health and wellbeing. We have developed a joint Statement of Intent with Public Health Scotland where we commit to working together to address the interconnected challenges of health and equity, biodiversity loss and climate change for current and future generations.

As part of this collaboration we have developed the following shared narrative which emphasises the critical importance of addressing health, nature, and climate challenges together to achieve equitable outcomes. This narrative will serve as a foundation for advocacy and communication, both within and beyond our organisations.

“Healthy Nature; Healthier People” 

Scotland’s health challenges are increasing. After decades of improvement, people are dying younger; the number of people dying early is increasing; people are spending more of their life in ill health and the gap in life expectancy between the poorest and the wealthiest is growing. Increasingly our health and well-being will be directly impacted by the climate crisis.

To create a society where everybody can thrive, healthy nature is one of the key building blocks needed alongside stable jobs, fair pay, quality housing and good education. Our natural world provides a range of goods and services which underpin our economy and contribute to our health and well-being. We need a rich variety of life to produce food, energy and new medicines; to maintain air and water quality; and to sustain natural systems and processes which controls rainfall, temperature, flooding and pests and pathogens.

A growing body of research indicates that higher levels of nature connectedness are positively associated with improved health and wellbeing. The significant role of healthy nature in population health is to be recognised in the proposal for the ‘Right to a Healthy Environment’ in the Human Rights Bill for Scotland. 

Healthy nature also regulates our climate. Increasingly, we recognise that degraded nature and unhealthy lifestyles contribute to climate change. In turn, climate change is one of the key direct drivers of biodiversity loss and will increasingly impact on our economy and our health. 

Healthy nature helps us to adapt and reduce the impacts of climate change on people. 

Protecting and restoring natural habitats and green and blue spaces can help tackle the effects of climate change and its impact on health because they: 

• help to remove harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store them safely through a process known as carbon sequestration, removing greenhouse gases and other pollutants from the atmosphere improves outdoor air quality which has benefits for health and wellbeing.
• support water management by absorbing water during heavy rainfall and reducing the risk of flooding.
• help lower temperatures during heatwaves in built-up towns and cities by providing shade and cooling the surrounding air. 

At the same time, we know that some of the communities which already experience the poorest health, and economic outcomes have the worst access to nature and are likely to be the most impacted by climate change. Action for nature recovery therefore sits alongside the action needed to increase our resilience to climate change, improve our health and well-being and ensure a fair and just economic transition to net zero. 

A range of new policy approaches and more systematic interventions are needed which bring together health, environment and other sectors to tackle the interlinked challenges of climate, nature, food, water and health. In particular, nature-based approaches to health that lever the restorative and preventive potential of nature for health offer powerful tools to improve health outcomes, reduce health inequalities, foster community well-being, and help tackle the impacts of climate change delivering ‘triple wins’ for health, nature and climate.

Public Health Scotland and NatureScot recognise the urgent need to tackle the interconnected challenges of health, nature, and climate to build a healthy, equitable, climate-resilient and thriving Scotland for both current and future generations.

We recognise that high-quality, accessible green and blue spaces are crucial for improving health, reducing inequalities, mitigating climate change, and supporting biodiversity. The evidence is clear, with low-cost, high-return initiatives offering a powerful opportunity to act now. 

Together, we are committed to a renewed policy focus on human-nature connectedness, advocating for and supporting the integration of nature-based health approaches into Scotland’s national and local strategies and plans to deliver benefits to physical, mental, and social well-being, while also addressing climate adaptation and biodiversity goals.

Our unique contribution in coming together lies in our combined expertise and complementary roles in improving public health and protecting, restoring and valuing our natural world. Our collaboration uses the strengths of both sectors to create a holistic approach that benefits both people and the planet.