Since 2020, I have been a co-investigator on the Wellcome Trust funded Pathfinder Initiative, a 2-year project to assess and synthesise lessons from the implementation of practical, evidence-based pathways to zero-carbon societies. The aim of the project is to fill knowledge gaps on the health co-benefits of climate mitigation actions and to identify which actions will have the largest multiple benefits (and will be the least subject to trade-offs) for health, the environment and prosperity in particular contexts. Within the project, my role encompasses both primary research and outreach, synthesising results and co-ordinating the outputs from the Initiative and the ancillary Lancet Commission. As part of the Pathfinder Initiative, I also manage project partnerships with OECD, C40 Cities, CDP, the Sustainable Solutions Development Network (SDSN) and the Lancet Scientific Commission, an international group of expert researchers on climate mitigation and health. A second Phase of Pathfinder is planned to run from spring 2023 to mid 2025. The second phase will undertake a more prospective programme model, identifying and engaging with those undertaking mitigation actions to help them identify, measure and report health co-benefits.

I am also PI on the UKERC funded project: WinWindow: tracking the co-benefits of a green recovery. The aim of WinWindow is to explore and demonstrate the feasibility, methodology and data needed to develop a long-term ‘Co-benefits Tracker’. The overall objective is to provide policy advice for the UK government to help them factor environmental and societal impacts into policies that seek to deliver net zero and contribute to economic recovery from the impacts of Covid-19. WinWindow is a collaboration between LSHTM, Imperial College and the University of Aberdeen.

Key Publications

Whitmee, S., Green, R., Phumaphi, J., Clark, H., Haines, A. Bridging the evidence gap to achieve a healthy, net zero future. The Lancet. 2021;398(10311):1551–3.

Brennan, M., Whitmee, S., Braneon, C.V., Meinsma, N. and Green, R. “Sea Level Rise and City-Level Climate Action”. European Journal of Environment and Public Health 2022 6 no. 2 (2022): em0111.

Belesova K, Green R, Clercq-Roques R, Whitmee, S. et al. Quantifying the effectiveness and health co-benefits of climate change mitigation actions across sectors: a protocol for an umbrella review Wellcome Open Res 2022, 7:98

Blom IM, Asfura JS, Eissa M, Whitmee, S. et al. A systematic review protocol for identifying the effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation interventions for health care systems in low- and middle-income countries Wellcome Open Res 2022, 7:202

Whitmee, S., Haines, A., Beyrer, C., Boltz, F., Capon, A., de Souza Dias, B.F. et al. Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene Epoch: Report of The Rockefeller Foundation - Lancet Commission on planetary health. The Lancet 386 (10007), 1973-2028.