For Understanding the Health Impacts of Climate Change

The impact of climate change on human health is profound. The World Health Organization estimates that climate change will result in an additional 250,000 deaths annually between 2030 and 2050. These changes will disproportionately impact the globe’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. Planetary health must mitigate the effects of climate change, even as we seek to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

As one of only a few such programs in the world, YSPH’s Center on Climate Change and Health (CCCH) makes the most of the university’s multidisciplinary expertise and global reach to address the globe’s most existential threat. Climate change is an area of study that our students must be grounded in and prepared to address. Since the most vulnerable people are also society’s most disadvantaged, the social determinants of disease loom large. CCCH catalyzes innovative research and provides comprehensive education to prepare the next generation of public health professionals to meet the many health challenges posed by climate change. CCCH has affiliations with the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education, the Planetary Health Alliance and the U.S. Climate and Health Alliance, and works closely with the Yale School of the Environment. Increasingly, it uses distance learning and “train the trainer” models to advance the efforts of scientists in countries around the globe.

Yale’s CCCH also partners with the Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH) to solve the most pressing global health challenges, collaborating closely with governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations and universities. YIGH is a vibrant intersection of intellectual rigor, experience and creativity, where interdisciplinary collaboration inspires ideas and where access to experts from across campus and the world can accelerate exploratory processes. Innovation can come from anywhere, making YIGH one of Yale’s most dynamic and impactful scientific ecosystems.

Opportunities range from $5,000 to $10 million for Planetary Solutions faculty collaborations, professorships, internships, distance learning program development, the Climate Justice Clinic, and more. A Center-naming gift is also available.

Responding to climate change presents the greatest public health opportunity of the 21st century, with the potential to save millions of lives globally each year. The Yale Center on Climate Change and Health utilizes the University’s multidisciplinary expertise and global reach to help safeguard the health of human populations from the adverse impacts of climate change and human activities that cause climate change. Signature YCCCH programs include the following, and each feature unique gift opportunities:

Planetary Solutions Faculty Collaborations:

YCCCH, in collaboration with the Yale Institute for Global Health, aims to build a unique, world-class, interdisciplinary Planetary Health Initiative that will address the adverse health effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other global environmental changes through research, education, development and evaluation of global health programs particularly focused on the most vulnerable populations. Gift opportunities range from $1 million to $10 million to launch global programs in climate hot spots around the globe.

Environmental and Climate Health Justice Clinic:

Travel and housing to examine compromised sites. Through collaboration with Vermont Law School, YCCCH hosts interdisciplinary student teams to carry out applied projects at the intersection of climate justice, law and public policy, and public health. Each team works with a partner organization to study, design, and implement a project, typically through community-based participatory research practices. Gift opportunities range from $5,000 for spendable funds up to endowed gifts of $100,000 or more to continue this work in perpetuity.

Health Care Sustainability Program:

The healthcare sector itself is a major contributor of environmental pollutants that adversely affect human health. The mission of this program is to develop and support efforts that measure, mitigate, and adapt to pollution with a unique focus on healthcare delivery. Gift opportunities range from $50,000 in spendable pilot project research funds to $1 million or more for program operation, research, and implementation support.

Other gift opportunities include:

• Faculty Director Resource Fund: $100,000 or more
• Innovation Funds, including pilot project grant support: $500,000 or more
• Doctoral student support: $2 million endowed funds or $100,000 spendable funds
• Curriculum and case study development: $25,000 or more
• Summer internships: Spendable gifts of $5,000 or endowed funds of $100,000
• Speaker series: Gifts from $5,000 or more to bring global leaders to campus