Environment, Climate Change and Health
We pursue a healthier environment by strengthening health sector leadership, building mechanisms for political and social support and monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals regarding environmental threats to health.
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Indicators, guidance and tools

A number of tools exist to assess, plan and finance healthy and climate-friendly transport. This section briefly examines these tools and their most relevant uses. Also covered are best practices in policy and regulation and, where possible, successful experiences across the world. 

Indicators and monitoring

Progress towards healthy transport goals can be assessed by collecting data on key transport performance criteria and indicators, including indicators for: 

  • active travel/physical activity; 
  • use of non-motorized and public transport;
  • air and noise pollution exposures;
  • pedestrian injuries;
  • access to transport. 

Collecting and reporting indicator data allows public assessment of whether or not transport systems are improving their health performance and at what pace. The Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) is one example of a transport indicator set that tracks progress towards transport-related environmental targets, including greenhouse gas emissions, air quality and noise. However, while TERM assesses progress on environmental outcomes, other important health outcomes such as road traffic injury and physical activity are not considered. 

Economic assessment

Healthy transport interventions can produce economic savings, which can be quantified using health economic assessment methods and tools. 

Mainstream cost-benefit assessments (CBA) of transport projects typically analyse factors such as economic savings obtained from vehicle operating costs and reduced travel times. However, they often fail to quantify the full range of health impacts from transport policies, particularly at the level of strategic investments where choices about investment in roads versus BRT and urban rail transport can profoundly impact health and climate over time – either increasing or reducing reliance on private car travel, efficiency of existing public transport systems, walking and cycling, and physical activity. 

Health equity impacts of transport are also rarely addressed in standard cost-benefit assessment tools. The lack of a comprehensive health assessment is a major gap in economic assessment, with far-reaching implications for transport investments and health. 

The Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for cycling and walking, developed by WHO, is an example of a tool that can help value the health benefits from investments in walking and cycling systems. The tool consists of a user-friendly spreadsheet that estimates the economic value of reduced mortality from improved access to cycling and walking networks. 

 

Financing health co-benefits

International climate funding is available for certain types of transport projects, especially in developing countries. International financial institutions, such as the World Bank, also increasingly support climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability within infrastructure projects and lending policies. However, the extent to which health co-benefits are considered in development financing is still limited. 

Guidance, good practice and useful links

Guidance tools provide information on best practices and successful experiences that promote healthy, sustainable transport. These resources address a range of key areas associated with a healthy and sustainable transport policy framework, focusing on best practices in planning, regulation, economic policy and practice. 

Other transport and health assessment tools 

  •  Integrated Sustainable Transport Health Assessment Tool (iSThAT)  iSThAT estimates transport fleet emissions based on age and composition, and projects carbon dioxide emissions’ reductions, improved air quality, physical activity, and health and economic benefits due to reduced deaths and disease from shifts to sustainable transport.  

  • ITHIM (Integrated Transport and Health Impact Modelling Tool) performs integrated urban and national level assessments of the health impacts of transport scenarios and policies, including: changes in physical activity, road traffic injury risk, and exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution (i.e. transportation mode shift). ITHIM estimates the health impacts of scenarios, compares the impact of travel patterns in different places, and models the impact of interventions. Changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can also be modelled. 

  • Non-Motorized Transport – Project Appraisal Tool – NMT (Non-Motorized Transportation – Project Appraisal Tool) is an excel based tool to calculate the costs, and health, social, economic and environmental benefits of walking and cycling projects using common, aggregate transport and economic data, and local institutional knowledge to gain insight into the viability of NMT infrastructure projects in cities. 

Useful links