Abstract

The world will need to produce 60 per cent more food by 2050, assuming current trends in diets and population growth continue. More than two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050, by which time climate change could be responsible for 250,000 deaths a year.

Our planet is changing in unprecedented ways and which directly threaten human health. Such changes also bring opportunities to protect and improve health, if we can respond appropriately. Since 2015, the Wellcome Trust’s ‘Our Planet, Our Health’ programme has supported a community of researchers in taking on the challenges that food systems, increasing urbanisation, and climate change pose to our health.

We aim to stimulate research excellence and develop global collaborations to drive change. Our areas of focus are as follows:

Climate change: Acting on climate change requires both primary prevention (ie, reducing its effects on health – mitigation), and preparedness and response (ie, adapting to its impact – adaptation). These responses must be designed and implemented to protect health as best we can, while also improving social equity. We offer Climate Change and Health Awards – open to researchers who want to better understand the links between climate change and health. We’ve also linked up with the Lancet to set up the Lancet Countdown, an international research collaboration that tracks global progress on climate change.

Global food systems: With the world’s population growing, current ways of producing food are unsustainable. What we eat is also leading to problems, with poor nutrition a major cause of illness around the world. Wellcome is a founding partner of the EAT Foundation, which brings together scientists, businesses and policymakers to transform food systems. We’ve also invested £10.3 million in two research partnerships looking at how to create healthier food systems.

Urban environments: As urban populations grow, so do rates of infectious disease, drug resistance, pollution, and waste. We’ve invested £17.8 million in research looking at how urban design and policy can improve health. Our research partnerships are investigating what makes cities healthy and sustainable, as well as how water management can be built into urban design.