Understanding How Climate Action Creates Health and Economic Benefits
Damage pathways trace the causal chain from climate interventions through intermediate mechanisms to final health and economic outcomes. They answer the question: "How exactly does this climate action create benefits?"
Climate Intervention
Promote walking and cycling instead of driving
Mechanism (Damage Pathway)
Increased physical activity → Reduced cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression
Outcome (Damage Type)
Health: Reduced mortality, reduced morbidity, NHS savings
Economic: Productivity gains, reduced absenteeism
Direct health improvements through reduced disease burden, mortality prevention, and healthcare cost savings
Productivity gains, reduced absenteeism, time savings, and infrastructure cost reductions
Quality of life improvements, amenity value, sleep quality, and community wellbeing
The UK Co-Benefits Atlas tracks 20 unique damage pathways across 11 co-benefit types, covering all 46,426 small areas from 2025 to 2050. Each pathway is quantified in monetary terms (£ million GBP) to enable comparison and policy prioritization.
Select a co-benefit type to see its specific damage pathways and mechanisms
The reduced mortality and reduced morbidity pathways from increased physical activity account for nearly 90% of total health co-benefits, highlighting the transformative power of active travel.
Direct NHS cost savings from reduced disease burden represent immediate fiscal benefits, with air quality and physical activity pathways delivering the largest healthcare system relief.
A single intervention (e.g., cycling infrastructure) triggers multiple pathways simultaneously—physical activity, air quality, noise reduction—creating compounding benefits.
Pathways show cumulative growth from 2025-2050 as interventions mature and population-level health improvements compound, emphasizing the importance of early action.
Data source: Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, UK Co-Benefits Atlas. 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. Pathway analysis based on damage pathway data covering 46,426 small areas, 2025-2050.