Building local capacity to address the health equity implications of climate change: A case study of public health involvement in sustainability and adaptation planning

Public health professionals have a significant opportunity to increase public understanding of climate change and its implications for human health. We are uniquely suited to educate diverse populations about the huge potential for climate change to harm individual and community health and exacerbate existing inequities, and to engage those populations in developing actionable solutions.

The Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), a collaboration of eleven local public health departments in the San Francisco Bay Area, came together in 2002 to transform public health practice to achieve health equity by using a broad spectrum of approaches to build healthier communities. California's climate change legislation (A.B. 32; S.B. 375) has created a unique opportunity for public health to develop working partnerships with professionals and advocates involved in land-use and transportation planning, as well as air and water quality management through participation in the creation of the region's mitigation and adaptation plans. BARHII's involvement in these efforts has led to an increased focus on health and equity in the region's planning process as well as concurrent capacity-building of participating public health and planning professionals. A series of short publications was developed to build the capacity of broader public health staff to highlight the connection between equity and human health impacts of climate change and translate this understanding into public health practice. Lessons learned from the regional advocacy and planning process, community engagement, and development of capacity-building materials and strategies will be discussed.