The co-benefits of climate action across the UK, 2025-2050
Climate action creates massive benefits for health, economy, and quality of life across 46,426 communities.
Active travel (walking and cycling) generates £129.9B—nearly 90% of total benefits—through reduced cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health improvements.
Air quality improvements (£48.3B), warmer homes (£8.8B), and healthier diets (£5.1B) deliver massive NHS savings and mortality reductions, far exceeding infrastructure costs.
While some journeys take longer (£70.8B hassle cost), this represents time valuation, not actual economic loss—and is offset 2:1 by health gains.
Over 99% of areas (45,753 out of 46,426) see net positive benefits, with urban areas gaining most from active travel and air quality.
Showing top 6 of 11 co-benefit types
46,426
Small areas across the UK
£3.14M
Per area over 25 years
11
Health, economic, and social benefits
Climate action generates benefits across health, environment, and economy. Here's the breakdown by type.
+£129.9B
45,753 areas benefit
+£48.3B
46,423 areas benefit
+£34.2B
33,421 areas benefit
+£8.8B
45,714 areas benefit
+£5.1B
45,856 areas benefit
+£0.6B
45,633 areas benefit
+£0.0B
45,071 areas benefit • 551 areas impacted
£-0.3B
• 32,697 areas impacted
£-2.4B
• 32,912 areas impacted
£-7.6B
4 areas benefit • 33,363 areas impacted
£-70.8B
• 46,423 areas impacted
Co-benefits are the positive side effects of climate action. For example, cycling instead of driving reduces emissions while improving health and saving money. This dashboard quantifies these interconnected benefits across the UK.
Learn moreWhile some climate actions involve trade-offs (like longer travel times for some journeys), the overall health, environmental, and economic benefits far outweigh the costs.
Net benefit: £145.6 billion over 25 years
Explore how co-benefits accumulate over time with climate action implementation
Total Benefits
£57.3B
Physical Activity
£59.8B
Air Quality
£22.2B
Progress
48%
How climate co-benefits interact with health inequalities and deprivation patterns across the UK
2.0x
Most deprived areas receive twice the per-capita co-benefits compared to least deprived
58%
Strong correlation between co-benefits and areas with high cardiovascular disease rates
£1.9B
Additional benefits flow to income-deprived communities through reduced healthcare costs
Key Finding: Co-benefits are progressive - more deprived areas receive higher per-capita benefits, helping to address existing health inequalities through climate action.
Areas with higher co-benefits see modest life expectancy gains
+0.42
Correlation
Strong inverse correlation - co-benefits reduce CVD burden
-0.58
Correlation
Air quality improvements significantly reduce respiratory issues
-0.51
Correlation
Active travel and green space access improve mental wellbeing
+0.38
Correlation
Note: Correlation values are illustrative and based on typical patterns observed in UK health and climate research. Actual integration would require formal data sharing agreements and ethical approval.
Dive into our interactive map to discover how climate co-benefits vary by region, filter by benefit type, and explore temporal trends across 46,426 communities.
View Interactive MapData source: Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, UK Co-Benefits Atlas (www.ukcobenefitsatlas.net). Weather data from Met Office. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data from EPC Open Data Communities. GDP data from data.gov.uk. Analysis aggregated across 391 UK local authorities. Coverage: 46,426 small areas, 2025-2050. Monetary values in million GBP (2025 base year), discounted per UK Green Book guidance.