Assessing climate change and health provisions among staff in higher education institutions: A preliminary investigation

RESEARCH ARTICLE Assessing climate change and health provisions among staff in higher education institutions: A preliminary investigation Walter Leal Filho1,2, Maria Alzira Pimenta DinisID3,4, Amanda Lange SalviaID5*, Javier SierraID6,7, Helena VasconcelosID8,9, Claire Henderson-WilsonID10, Samo Diatta11, T. V. Lakshmi Kumar12,13, Maria Gabriela MeirellesID14,15, Fernanda CarvalhoID16 1 European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management”, Interdisciplinary Expert Centre for Climate Change and Health (IECCCH), Hamburg, Germany, 2 Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom, 3 Fernando Pessoa Research, Innovation and Development Institute (FP-I3ID), University Fernando Pessoa (UFP), Porto, Portugal, 4 Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, 5 European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany, 6 Department of Applied Economics, Faculty of Law, Paseo Tomas y Valiente, Research Center on Global Governance, Educational Research Institute, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, 7 European School of Sustainability Science and Research; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany, 8 Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, 9 OKEANOS—R&D Centre, University of the Azores, Horta, Portugal,

10 Health Nature Sustainability Research Group, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, 11 Laboratoire d’Oce´anographie des Sciences de l’Environnement et du Climat, Departement de Physique, Universite´ Assane Seck de Ziguinchor, Ziguinchor, Senegal, 12 Centre for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Studies, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India, 13 School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 14 Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT), University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, 15 Center IεD Okeanos, University of the Azores, Horta, Azores, Portugal, 16 Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere, Afonso Chaves Observatory, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal * amandasalvia@gmail.com Abstract Climate change can have direct and indirect effects on human health. Direct effects can include an increase in extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and floods, as well as an increase in the spread of vector-borne and infectious diseases, which may lead to a set of health problems and diseases. Indirect effects can include changes in air quality, water availability, and food production and distribution. These changes can lead to an increase in respiratory problems, malnutrition, and increased food insecurity. There is a perceived need to investigate the extent to which Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are engaged in efforts to foster a greater understanding of the connections between climate change and health. In

this context, this preliminary investigation offers an overview of the relationships between climate change and health. By means of a survey among teaching staff and researchers at HEIs from 42 countries across all continents working on the connection between climate change and health. The study has investigated the extent to which current provisions for education and training on the connection between climate change and health are being con- sidered and how current needs in terms of policy development, research, and training are being met. A series of case studies illustrate how universities worldwide are actively PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304019 May 21, 2024 1 / 21 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Leal Filho W, Dinis MAP, Lange Salvia A, Sierra J, Vasconcelos H, Henderson-Wilson C, et al. (2024) Assessing climate change and health provisions among staff in higher education institutions: A preliminary investigation. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0304019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0304019 Editor: John Adebisi, University of Namibia, NAMIBIA Received: August 1, 2023 Accepted: May 3, 2024 Published: May 21, 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Leal Filho et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting information files.

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.