Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment
We seek climate solutions that can provide for a healthier and more just world today and a livable future for our children.
665 Huntington Avenue
Building 1, Room 1312
Boston, MA 02115
Climate MD
Bringing climate solutions to the bedside.
We engage, support, and empower medical professionals to help turn awareness of the health threats posed by climate change into actions that improve health.
When Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico it devastated the island and also caused national shortages of intravenous saline, a backbone of basic medical care when the supply chain was put out of commission.
Hurricanes, wildfires, extreme heat, and other consequences of burning fossil fuels and climate change don’t just threaten our health, they threaten the ability of medical providers to deliver care to all those who need it.
It’s essential that health care providers understand how climate change could impact their clinical practice, be empowered to safeguard their patients’ health, and use their voices to engage the health care community and public to act on climate change.
Harvard Chan C-CHANGE runs Climate MD, a program focused on building climate resilient frontline clinics, helping health care providers understand how climate change impacts their clinical practice, and empower them to use their voices to act on climate change.
We are working with frontline health clinics to protect patients’ health from climate shocks like heat waves, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires. Our programs work with clinic providers, staff, and patients to prevent harm from the climate crisis and improve health equity.
Learn about patient-centered climate resilience and our work with frontline health clinics.
We reach health care professionals by publishing and amplifying research on patient-centered climate action, demonstrating the connections between climate change and pediatrics, climate-informed primary care, psychology, emergency medicine, surgery, internal medicine, cancer, pulmonology, infectious diseases, and more.
Our team co-hosted the Health Effects of Climate Change, a massive open online course that has been taken by more than 100,000 students in over 100 countries, Harvard University’s Climate Change and Health Fellows for emergency medicine physicians, and the Climate Health Organizing Fellows program for U.S. health professionals.
We work with medical schools to integrate climate change into curricula using clinical cases and targeted curriculum, outlining the first residency curricula to better prepare doctors for climate change and identifying climate and health initiatives at educational institutions.
We serve as the media’s go-to source for climate change and health information, regularly interviewing with top-tier national and health media and advising on how to effectively communicate about climate and health issues.