The impact of public health messages on audience engagement and collective climate action

Motivating people to take collective climate action is an ongoing challenge. Recent research suggests that focusing on climate change as a human health issue is an encouraging approach. Here, we review the persuasive potential of health-framed climate messages and the importance of health professionals as trusted messengers in engaging audiences and increasing support for collective action, especially among people with lower levels of climate concern. We also examine the current state of the climate–health information environment. Our review suggests that: 1) communicating the health relevance of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions has considerable potential to promote collective action, especially when communicated by health professionals; 2) many health professionals are motivated to communicate about this topic; and 3) information about this important topic is under-represented in the broader information environment.