Climate and health impact cases

DESTINY is applying the digital evidence synthesis tools we develop to six climate and health impact cases. The impact cases are informed by Alive communities of practice made up of evidence producers and evidence users.

Our objective is to co-create equitable access to trustworthy, continuously updated evidence, informing policy and practice which improve people’s lives through better climate and health outcomes.

Using the open data infrastructure to deliver these impact cases allows us to continuously evaluate and improve the performance of our tools, to learn what works, and to develop methodological guidance for the responsible use of AI to support the evidence synthesis community.

Impact cases

1. Living evidence map of the global climate and health literature

Climate and health research is expanding faster than any traditional review process can keep pace with. In 2025, the field lost one of its few centralised resources when the NIEHS Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal was closed. DESTINY’s Impact Case 1 (IC1) responds to this gap with two elements: a dedicated climate and health evidence repository and, built on it, a living evidence map that is continuously updated as new literature is published.

2. Living evidence map and synthesis on climate-related health impacts in cities

Using the climate and health repository as a foundation, we will extract and focus on studies relevant to cities and human settlements. Having a dedicated impact case for cities addresses the specific characteristics of urban contexts (density, infrastructure, governance structures and social dynamics) that require a city-level synthesis rather than a global review.

3. Living systematic review of clean cookstove and insecticide-treated bed net (ITN) interventions

We will provide rigorous, synthesised and living evidence on the effects of these interventions on mortality and related health and environmental outcomes, using state-of-the-art methods for evidence identification, appraisal, and synthesis.

4. Mixed-methods living systematic review on interventions to promote the uptake of healthier and low carbon food options in institutional settings

We are developing a living systematic review and evidence gap map using a mixed-methods approach to identify and synthesise evidence on interventions that promote healthier and low-carbon food options.

5. Effective evidence transfer on urban heat adaptation and health

We are examining which urban heat adaptation interventions reduce heat-related mortality, illness, and adverse effects on well-being in cities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and under what conditions these interventions work.

6. Nature-based solutions to reduce climate-related health risks in low- and middle-income countries

We are producing an evidence synthesis in partnership with the Planet Pillar of the UN SDG Synthesis Coalition. This synthesis examines nature-based solutions as protective infrastructure that reduces hazard, exposure, and vulnerability across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in cities and rural areas alike. The review covers extreme heat, flooding, storm surge, coastal erosion, landslides, and drought.