Climate Change and Social Health: A Narrative Review and Call to Action

Social health is increasingly recognised as a critical determinant of population health and climate resilience. Yet, the concept of social health—our ability to access and maintain meaningful human relationships—has not been adequately integrated into climate change policy or research. This paper presents a narrative synthesis of interdisciplinary evidence to explore the possible bidirectional and nuanced relationship between climate change and social health. These nuances include the impact of climate change on social conditions that enable individual mental and physical health, such as stable housing, supportive communities, and safe public spaces, as well as widespread social disconnection, erosion of trust, and loneliness that impacts our collective capacity to adapt to and mitigate the climate crisis. We unpack how the context of social health can be both a climate vulnerability and a lever for climate action.To support this case, we developed a synthesis of the existing key literature and propose a new conceptual framework that identifies individual, community, and systemic pathways through which social health and climate outcomes interact. We highlight emerging research, gaps in measurement, and promising opportunities for public policy. Finally, we call for a reimagining of climate and health governance—one that centres social infrastructure, lived experience expertise, and collective wellbeing as key pillars of resilience in a changing world.