Dr. Madeleine Thomson’s commitment to climate justice in health reflects her deep understanding that climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable populations while those least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions bear the greatest health burdens. Her equity-focused research approach addresses these fundamental injustices while working to ensure that climate health solutions prioritize those most in need.

Thomson’s climate justice framework recognizes that countries with the smallest contributions to climate change are often the most affected by its health impacts and the least equipped to respond effectively. This perspective guides her work at Wellcome, where she consistently advocates for directing resources and support toward low- and middle-income countries facing the greatest climate health challenges.

Her equity-focused approach emphasizes that vulnerable populations within countries also face disproportionate climate health risks. Thomson’s research identifies children, elderly individuals, pregnant women, and people with underlying health conditions as particularly vulnerable to climate health impacts, while also recognizing that poverty, limited healthcare access, and inadequate housing compound these vulnerabilities.

Thomson’s research demonstrates how social determinants of health interact with climate factors to create compound vulnerabilities for disadvantaged populations. Her work shows that communities with limited healthcare access, poor housing quality, and inadequate sanitation face greater risks from climate-sensitive diseases and have reduced capacity to implement protective measures.

Her climate justice approach includes significant attention to addressing urban health equity issues related to heat exposure. Thomson’s research shows that low-income neighborhoods often experience more severe urban heat island effects due to reduced tree cover, higher building density, and limited access to air conditioning, creating environmental injustices that climate adaptation efforts must address.

Thomson’s equity-focused research emphasizes the importance of ensuring that climate health interventions do not exacerbate existing health disparities. Her approach includes attention to how adaptation strategies can be designed and implemented to reduce rather than increase health inequities, particularly between and within countries.

Her work addresses the critical importance of meaningful participation by affected communities in climate health research and intervention development. Thomson’s approach recognizes that sustainable and equitable solutions require active involvement from vulnerable populations in identifying priorities, developing strategies, and implementing interventions.

Thomson’s climate justice framework includes advocacy for international cooperation and support mechanisms that can help countries with limited resources address climate health challenges. Her work emphasizes that global climate justice requires wealthy countries to provide adequate support for climate health adaptation in regions where impacts are most severe.

Her equity-focused approach includes attention to gender dimensions of climate health impacts, recognizing that women and girls often face particular vulnerabilities during extreme weather events and disease outbreaks. Thomson’s work addresses how climate health interventions can be designed to address gender-specific risks and support gender equity.

Thomson’s research addresses the intergenerational equity dimensions of climate health, recognizing that current greenhouse gas emissions will continue to affect health outcomes for decades to come. Her work emphasizes the moral imperative to protect future generations from preventable climate health impacts through immediate mitigation and adaptation action.

Her climate justice approach includes significant attention to capacity building and technology transfer that can strengthen climate health capabilities in low-resource settings. Thomson’s work through Wellcome’s international research partnerships represents a model for how climate health innovation can be developed with and for the communities that need it most.

Thomson’s equity-focused research addresses the importance of addressing root causes of vulnerability rather than simply treating symptoms of climate health impacts. Her approach recognizes that sustainable climate justice requires addressing underlying factors such as poverty, inequality, and social exclusion that create differential vulnerability to climate health risks.

Her work emphasizes that climate justice in health requires sustained commitment to addressing power imbalances and structural inequities that create differential climate health impacts. Thomson’s approach advocates for transformative changes in how climate health challenges are understood and addressed globally.

Through her commitment to climate justice, Thomson demonstrates how climate health research and intervention can contribute to broader efforts to create a more equitable and sustainable world where all people have the opportunity to live healthy lives regardless of their contribution to or location relative to climate change impacts.

Explore Dr. Thomson’s climate justice work at https://wellcome.org/about-us/our-people/staff/madeleine-thomson, https://www.weforum.org/stories/authors/madeleine-thomson/, https://climatehealth.gwu.edu/climate-and-health-seminar-dr-madeleine-thomson-head-climate-impacts-wellcome-trust, https://uk.linkedin.com/in/madeleine-thomson-04297825, and https://iri.columbia.edu/tags/madeleine-thomson/.