The co-benefits framework for understanding and action on climate change

Climate change is arguably the biggest global health challenge of the twenty-f irst century (Costello et al. 2009). The very survival of living organisms – humans, animals and plants – is threatened by the deterioration of the planet’s health. Scientists are concerned that we have already transgressed a ‘safe operating space for humanity’ for a number of planetary systems including biodiversity and the climate system (Rockström et al. 2009). Governments in developed and developing nations, together with communities, private businesses and the not-for-profit sector, are beginning to mobilise to tackle this challenge. The magnitude of the threat to health is unprecedented and may imperil the future of civilisation, even the survival of the human species. There is increasing agreement that climate change is a ‘wicked’ problem and that to adequately and appropriately address its outcomes will require new and integrative ways of understanding, analysis and collective action. One such approach being advanced is the co-benefits framework.