Climate change and ecological public health: an integrated framework

Abstract Climate and ecological change impacts represent the greatest global health challenge but also the greatest opportunity of the 21st century. Interlinking climate and ecological change impacts, with societal change and human health, should form the scientific progress in public health for current and future generations of researchers. Ecological public health approach is proposed to address the challenges faced by public health today, by its aims to integrate complexity, multiple interactions and change of societal and environmental systems, and also as an adaptable approach which can assist in exploring and understanding complex public health questions in a way that are usable to all. The aim of this chapter is to outline why ecological public health approach is a useful framework when trying to understand and measure the public health impacts of complex ecological and climate change, and societal systems transitions. To achieve its aim the chapter highlights key issues within this framework, and also illustrates with a few examples, to make it more explicit on how this system's approach can assist any economic models of cost–benefits of environmental health interventions.