Health Impacts and Unsustainable Behaviour - Request for research

The UK Sustainable Development Commission is preparing a response to the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review over the next couple of months.

As part of that response, they want to include a focus on the importance of sustainable development to health and well being. One of the things they are doing is collecting evidence on the health impacts and costs of continuing to operate as a society in environmentally unsustainable ways.

They will be particularly focusing on transport and housing because of their importance to health, energy and the environment and the widespread view that current policy in these areas is not always sustainable and may result in negative health consequences and additional cost to the economy in the long term.

However they are also exploring some of the 'big' issues for the UK government, such as what will be the health impacts and costs associated with global warming and what additional problems will an ageing population contribute in policy areas such as transport and housing and how this reinforces the need for the country to operate more sustainably.

Help is sought in identifying evidence of impacts and in particular costs associated with unsustainable behaviour in any of these policy areas. If you are aware of any relevant research/ reports/ articles that address the topics described, please email Geoff Barnes, Health Policy Advisor, Sustainable Development Commission - [email protected]