The Impact of Climate and Environmental Change on Brain Health

When we think about the health impacts of climate change, we often think of our lungs, our hearts, or the spread of infectious diseases. Rarely do we think about the organ that allows us to learn, remember, create, care for one another, and adapt to an uncertain future: the brain.

Yet our brains are constantly shaped by the environments in which we live. The air we breathe, the food and water we consume, the temperatures we experience, the disasters we endure, and the communities in which we grow all influence brain development, cognitive function, mental wellbeing, neurological health, and healthy aging. As climate change reshapes these environments, it is also reshaping brain health in ways we are only beginning to understand.

As a neuroscientist, I found it striking that despite a rapidly growing body of research linking climate-related environmental exposures to brain health, this evidence remained scattered across disciplines, diseases, and environmental risk factors. Neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, environmental scientists, epidemiologists, pediatricians, public health experts, and policymakers were often asking different questions, speaking different scientific languages, and working in parallel rather than together. There was no common framework, no shared research agenda, and no roadmap for translating this knowledge into action.

The International Neuro Climate Working Group (NCWG) was created to help change that. From the very beginning, our vision has extended beyond building a scientific network. We wanted to build a global community capable of connecting science with policy, lived experience, education, and action. We believed that understanding climate change’s impacts on the brain required not only interdisciplinary collaboration, but also meaningful partnership with those living through these changes every day. This is why this report brings together scientific evidence alongside lived experience narratives, youth perspectives, expert insights, and case studies from around the world. It is also why we have prioritized perspectives from low- and middle-income countries and communities disproportionately affected by climate change, recognizing that the greatest burdens are often borne by those who have contributed least to the crisis.

This report reflects more than two years of collaborative work by an international interdisciplinary Expert Committee and many contributors across the broader NCWG community. It synthesizes what we know, identifies what we still need to learn, and offers practical pathways forward through the Neuro Climate Framework, the Neuro Climate Research Agenda, and the Neuro Climate Action Roadmap. Our goal is not simply to document the problem, but to help accelerate solutions.

Perhaps the most hopeful message to emerge from this work is that protecting brain health and protecting the planet are deeply aligned. Many of the actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen climate resilience, cleaner air, greener and cooler cities, healthier food and water systems, resilient healthcare, and more equitable communities, also protect and promote brain health. To invest in brain health is to invest in our collective capacity to innovate, cooperate, and respond to the challenges ahead.

We hope this report serves as a resource for researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, policymakers, community leaders, and all those working toward a healthier, more resilient future. Most importantly, we hope it helps ensure that brain health offers a foundational lens through which we understand, address, and ultimately overcome one of the defining challenges of our time.

https://neuroclimate.org/