The ethics of research into health and climate change: call for papers
Climate change is the greatest health threat facing humanity. The nature and scale of the interconnected impacts of climate change on health as well as the effectiveness of interventions to adapt to and mitigate climate change are currently the focus of research.
Questions about which research should be given priority are critical, and ethical considerations are underdeveloped. To address this gap, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization will publish a theme issue on the ethics of research into health and climate change.
This issue will investigate a range of topics shaping ethically sound climate and health research across a range of methods, populations and disciplines.
Papers considered for the theme issue need to provide an advance in the field, and should respond to critical questions such as: what should be investigated and why? What should take priority and according to which criteria? Who or which entities should make decisions regarding the research agenda and by which process(es)?
Given that some countries and populations are facing existential threats from climate change – including the risk that their homelands will cease to exist within decades – what does fair and ethical research into the effects of climate change on their health require? Additionally, the theme issue will cover ethical aspects of climate- and health related research as they pertain to policy.
The Bulletin welcomes contributions from all stakeholders including public health decision-makers, researchers, civil society and community representatives by 1 June 2025.