Cities, Climate Change, and Health Equity /

Cities, Climate Change, & Health Equity Nishi Kumar June 2018 Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health. [...] This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. [...] The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. [...] Housing, income, neighbourhood, and other social determinants of health change the way that people interact with the environment, exacerbating existing health inequities and introducing new ones.6,7 Understanding the social determinants of health and how they interact with climate change will be a central issue for responding to the coming challenges. [...] This paper will first describe the health implications of climate change in Toronto, focusing on the key threats of heat, severe storms, and air quality and will then provide an overview of dimensions of climate vulnerability and resilience.