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Our brains on a changing planet

Climate change is reshaping brain health through heat, air, weather, water, nutrition, and disease vectors. A new report from the Neuro Climate Working Group presents the state of the science and the blind spot it leaves in climate policy.

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A thinking organ in a shifting climate

Climate change is a defining health challenge of the 21st century. Its effects on the heart, the lungs, and the immune system are fairly well recognized. Its effects on the brain are not.

Brain health spans neurological function, cognition, mental health, and neurodevelopment: ultimately, the foundations of human relationships, creativity, productivity, and wellbeing. Despite this central importance to human flourishing, climate policy and risk assessment have largely overlooked the brain.

This page introduces findings from a new report by the Neuro Climate Working Group, a collaborative network of 500+ neuroscientists, clinicians, and public health and policy experts. The report synthesizes the state of the science, identifies knowledge gaps, and offers a research and action agenda to protect brain health in a changing climate.

Highlights

Excessive heat impairs cognition, neurological function, mental wellbeing, and sleep, raises the risk of neurological diseases and self-harm, and is associated with an increase in emergency department visits for numerous psychiatric disorders.

Extreme weather events bring injury, trauma, displacement, disrupted care, and chronic stress, with neurological and psychological consequences outlasting disasters years after they arrive.

Air pollution increases the risk of stroke, neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline, and is estimated to contribute to roughly one in four dementia deaths worldwide.

Food insecurity impairs brain development, cognition, and mental well-being, with the most severe impacts occurring in the critical first 1,000 days of life, perhaps the most important neurodevelopmental period.

Soil and water contamination raise exposure to arsenic, pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals like lead and mercury: all neurotoxicants that act on neurological development and function across the lifespan.

Vector-borne diseases trigger both acute and chronic neurological complications, from encephalitis to lasting cognitive decline, as climatic shifts extend the habitable range of the insects that carry them.

Lifelong and intergenerational effects can stem from exposures before birth and in early childhood. Repeated exposures accumulate, and harm can pass to the next generation via epigenetic mechanisms.

Unequal burdens fall on children, pregnant women, older adults, people with neurological or mental health conditions, Indigenous Peoples, and displaced populations. These groups often face the greatest exposures yet possess the fewest resources to adapt.

The Neuro Climate Framework introduced here links climate change to brain health through three interconnected pathways: biological, psychological, and social-structural. The pathways compound, and interventions targeting only one often fall short.

A blind spot in climate policy leaves brain health unaddressed by today’s climate-health systems. Only 3% of nationally determined contributions mention mental health, and 0 of 160 national adaptation policies address children’s mental health.

A research agenda offered below names priorities for the next chapter of work: mechanisms, exposure interactions, pre-birth cohorts, data where the brain-health burden is greatest, and protective factors.

An action roadmap illustrates brain-health-protective policies at every scale of governance. There’s a role for everyone here, not least because many mitigatory and adaptive climate-policy measures also protect the brain.

A window for action is opening: between NDC 3.0 implementation, the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment health chapter, and the Belém Health Action Plan, several near-term opportunities exist to write brain health into climate policy, planning, and implementation.

01

Excessive Heat

The temperature-dependence of a thinking organ.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Neurodegenerative
  • Mental health
  • Other neurological
Cracked, drought-stricken earth under a hot sky.
0%
per +1°C Every 1°C above local baseline is associated with roughly a 2.2% rise in mental-health-related mortality.
0%
heat deaths, over-65s In 2024, heat-related deaths among people over 65 rose 63% above the average per year in the 1990s.
3–4%
class-size change 30 additional days above 26.7 °C offsets the learning gains of reducing class sizes by approximately 3–4%.

Climate change is raising average global temperatures and lengthening the heat waves that punctuate them. The brain, an organ assembled from temperature-dependent biology, is among the first systems to feel it.

Failure of thermoregulation at core temperatures above 40°C brings heat stroke, circulatory collapse, and seizures. Across animals, heat induces neural-circuit “crashes” akin to seizures and stroke, a direct consequence of the intrinsic temperature dependence of biological processes.,

Heat exacerbates existing neurological disorders (stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis) and raises hospital admissions for each., Modeling studies predict a rising burden of Alzheimer’s, other dementias, and Parkinson’s as warming continues.

The mind moves in step with the mercury. Every 1°C-increase is associated with a 2.2-percent rise in mental-health-related mortality; emergency-department visits climb for mood, anxiety, substance-use, and psychotic disorders, as well as for self-harm., Some psychiatric medications impair thermoregulation.

Prolonged heat erodes attention, executive function, and mental acuity., Judges issue harsher verdicts; workplaces shed productivity; impulsivity, aggression, and crime tick upward.,

Neuroscientists believe these effects arise because heat weakens the blood-brain barrier, the tightly packed layer of cells that controls molecular flow between the bloodstream and the brain. Heat also triggers neuroinflammation, oxidative stress (the build-up of unstable molecules that can damage cells), and mitochondrial dysfunction. Each of these harms is ultimately linked to the progressive loss of nerve cells known as neurodegeneration. Neuroimaging ties heat exposure in infancy to reduced myelination and white-matter maturation and disrupted functional connectivity in the adult brain.

“As a researcher and consultant, I see the built environment as our first line of defense against the health impacts of climate change. As someone living with epilepsy, that line of defense is currently failing. When urban heat islands spike, so does the physiological stress on the brain, lowering seizure thresholds and compromising neurological safety.”
Jessie Buckle Inclusive research and design specialist; PhD candidate in architectural design
02

Extreme Weather Events

Trauma that outlives the storm.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
A residential street submerged by floodwater.
0M+
Californians, wildfire 2011–18 Over 7 million Californians affected by wildfires between 2011 and 2018 saw rising prescriptions for antidepressants, anxiolytics, and mood stabilizers.
6–12 mo
after the fire Interference-processing deficits and heightened frontal brain activity persisted 6 to 12 months after wildfire exposure.

Droughts, floods, hurricanes, and severe storms are growing in frequency and intensity across much of the world. Their reach extends past property and into the nervous system.

Extreme fluctuations stress the brain’s resilience processes, raising the risk of stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis., Flooding ushers in water-borne disease (leptospirosis, shigellosis, hepatitis A), which can have severe neurological complications. The disruption of care accelerates decline for those with neurodegenerative conditions and ultimately hits hardest where resources are thinnest.,

Furthermore, the psychological toll compounds through trauma, displacement, financial ruin, and the loss of community and continuity. Floods and typhoons are linked to long-term mental disorders in survivors; disasters can spur anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After California’s deadliest wildfire, researchers documented chronic mental-health harm; more than 7 million Californians saw statistically significant increases in psychotropic prescriptions.

Cognition diminishes, as well, with deficits observed in working memory, processing, flexibility, and sustained attention. Recent studies have documented how wildfires' marks on interference processing and fronto-parietal activity are still visible 6 to 12 months after the fire.

The reach extends to the unborn. In-utero storm exposure is associated with altered amygdala, caudate, and hippocampus structure, as well as with shifts in placental gene expression tied to infant temperament. PTSD from climate disasters also appears to have a neurobiological signature distinct from other trauma.

“Our research has quantitatively shown that wildfires drive community-wide climate trauma: nearly a third of the impacted community can experience symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression, alongside cognitive impacts on attention and decision-making.”
Jyoti Mishra, PhD Associate Professor in Psychiatry, University of California San Diego
03

Air Pollution

The particles that cross into the brain.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Neurodegenerative
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
  • Other neurological
A city skyline obscured by dense smog.
0M
deaths / year Air pollution is the number one risk factor for health loss worldwide and the second-leading risk factor for death, linked to 7.9 million premature deaths annually.,
0%
stroke risk / 10µg Ischemic-stroke risk rises 13% for every 10 µg/m³ of PM2.5.
0%
dementia / 1µg Dementia risk rises about 3% per 1 µg/m³ increase in PM2.5.
1 in 4
dementia deaths, air pollution In 2023, air pollution was linked to roughly 626,000 dementia deaths worldwide, more than one in four (29%) of all dementia deaths.

Air pollution and climate change form a reinforcing cycle: Many pollutants warm the planet, and heat and wildfire smoke degrade the air in return. The brain pays across the life course.

Ultrafine particles, PM2.5, nitrogen oxides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons harm the central nervous system. In utero, exposure is linked to neural-tube defects and altered brain structure., In older adults, PM2.5 accelerates brain aging and dementia risk, is worst where socioeconomic inequality is highest, and raises hospitalizations for stroke, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.,

Prenatal PM2.5 is tied to later psychotic and depressive symptoms in youth; early exposure to particulates, ozone, and heavy metals is tied to neurodevelopmental disorders.,, Repeated exposure raises the risk of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and suicide.,

Cognition suffers most in children and older adults., In high-PM2.5 neighborhoods, children’s working-memory development is delayed.

The route runs through inflammation. Fine particulate matter drives systemic inflammation that disrupts the blood-brain barrier, activating immune responses in astrocytes, microglia, and neurons;, ultrafine particles can translocate directly via the olfactory nerve, bypassing the barrier and ferrying neurotoxins with them., Epigenetic changes in exposed neurons hint at effects passed to future generations.,

“As a neurologist, what concerns me most is the risk of ischemic heart disease, stroke, and dementia caused by air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. Many physicians and patients are unaware of this association.”
Larry Junck, MD Professor Emeritus of Neurology, University of Michigan
04

Food Insecurity

The first thousand days and the fish that feed the brain.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
A field of maize withered brown by drought.
0bn
food-insecure, 2024 In 2024, an estimated 2.33 billion people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.
0%
without DHA by 2100 By 2100, an estimated 96% of the global population may lack adequate access to brain-critical DHA as fish populations decline.
1,000
days that shape a brain Malnutrition in the first 1,000 days of life can leave lasting deficits in brain structure and function.,

Climate change reshapes food systems through flood and drought, ocean acidification, soil degradation, and atmospheric CO₂ that thins the nutrition in staple crops. The developing brain is the most sensitive to the shortfall.

In 2024, 2.33 billion people faced food insecurity and more than 3.1 billion could not afford a healthy diet. Iron deficiency delays cognitive development and drives behavioral problems; iodine deficiency causes brain damage and irreversible impairment. Shortfalls in the first 1,000 days leave lasting motor, behavioral, and cognitive harm,, deepening the socioeconomic disparities already written into brain development.

The microbiome-gut-brain axis helps shape neurological function, psychopathology, and cognition., In severe malnutrition, an infant’s gut microbiota (and the biochemicals it trades with the brain) diverge from the healthy pattern. Heat and pollutants disturb the microbiome, as well.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, an omega-3 essential to the vertebrate brain) may grow scarce as fish populations fall. By 2100, an estimated 96% of the global population may lack adequate access, with the sharpest losses in inland Africa.

“As climate change disrupts food systems and saps the nutritional value of our crops, food insecurity deepens and diets lose the nutrients that are the building blocks of a child’s cognitive future. This damage often begins before birth, when maternal food insecurity during pregnancy can already set a child on a harder developmental path, and it deepens during the first 1,000 days of life, the very window when a child’s brain is being built.”
Lisa Patel, MD Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford Children’s Health
05

Soil and Water Contamination

Neurotoxicants on the move.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Neurodegenerative
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
  • Other neurological
A polluted stream choked with algae and debris.
Pb·Hg·As
more mobile Heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic) grow more mobile and bioavailable as the climate shifts, leaching into groundwater and crops.,,
7–30x
microplastics in brain Microplastic concentrations in brain samples are 7–30 times greater than those in livers or kidneys.
16,000
chemicals in plastics Some 16,000 chemicals are associated with plastics; more than 4,000 are known to be hazardous to human and/or environmental health.

Droughts and floods can both spur contamination: Pesticides, pathogens, microplastics, and other toxicants flow into water when soils are degraded and destabilized. And what winds up in water and soil eventually ends up in people.

Climatic shifts drive farmers toward heavier pesticide use; more frequent and intense storms push those chemicals into water, soil, and the food chain., Wildfires and floods can also scatter asbestos, lead, and electronic waste into the environment. Even low-level lead and pesticide exposure can be irreversibly harmful in early life, with documented effects related to anxiety, depression, and mood disorders.,.

Of these neurotoxicants, heavy metals are the most well studied. Lead is known to cause neurodevelopmental delays and cognitive impairment in children; mercury drives severe behavioral and neurological disorders; a warming climate can increase the bioavailability of arsenic as it leaches into groundwater and accumulates in crops. Naturally occurring arsentic and fluoride levels also rise with declining water tables. Accordingly, we can likely consider water treatment and rainwater harvesting as brain-health interventions.,

Rising seas can also push saltwater into aquifers, and warmer, runoff-contaminated water can breed harmful algal blooms (HABs), which can produce neurotoxins like BMAA and domoic acid., Domoic acid alone is associated with memory impairment and neurological symptoms. Rising temperatures can also increase the spread and/or solubility of toxicants, and microplastics can act as carriers for organic pollutants and heavy metals. Microplastics are now accumulating in the brain itself.

Nearly all plastic is made from fossil fuels, and its production alone amounts to more than 5 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Among the 16,000 chemicals associated with plastics are compounds linked to reduced IQ and neurodevelopmental disorders., Furthermore, most plastic ends up as waste, and when it’s burned, it releases the same heavy metals and other neurotoxicants discussed above that can settle in sediments and soils.

Prenatal exposure to pesticides is also linked to neurodevelopmental harm, which means the effects can reach the next generation.,

“Children on the front lines of climate change often live in communities hit hardest by pollution, so-called sacrifice zones. To protect brain development of the next generation from climate change and pollution, bold action is needed at a much larger scale on air quality, food safety, water and sanitation, sustainable production, and waste management.”
Kam Sripada, PhD Associate Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
06

Vector-Borne Diseases

New maps for old pathogens.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
  • Other neurological
A mosquito resting on a green leaf.
0%
severe dengue cases with neuro-complications Dengue, the fastest-spreading tropical infection, causes neurological complications in up to 21% of hospitalized patients.
Aedes
expanding range Warming has expanded the range of Aedes mosquitoes (vectors for dengue, Zika, and yellow fever) into parts of Europe and North America.

Zoonotic and vector-borne diseases spread as temperature, humidity, and rainfall patterns shift the life cycles of pathogens and their carriers., A great many of them end up in the brain.

Aedes mosquitoes have pushed into Europe and North America, and changing human behavior (settlement, outdoor exposure, work) increases contact with vectors. Some diseases target the brain directly, as in Japanese encephalitis and neuroborreliosis; others reach it through complication, often by demyelinating and inflaming neural tissue.,

The catalogue is long. Dengue brings encephalitis or encephalopathy in up to 20% of cases; chikungunya brings encephalitis, neuropathy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and lasting cognitive impairment; Zika spurs microcephaly, cortical thinning, and meningoencephalitis. West Nile: encephalitis in infants and elders. Cerebral malaria: epilepsy and cognitive deficits., Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme: neurological and mental-health harm, sometimes long-term.,,

Six drivers, one organ

Across the lifespan and into the next generation, six climate exposures converge on the same organ, each linked to its own signature of harm.

  • Neurodevelopmental
  • Neurodegenerative
  • Mental health
  • Intergenerational
  • Other neurological
Neurodevelopmental
Neurodegenerative
Mental health
Intergenerational
Other neurological
Excessive Heat
Extreme Weather Events
Air Pollution
Food Insecurity
Soil and Water Contamination
Vector-Borne Diseases

Harm can begin before birth and compound with age; through nutrition, development, and trauma, some of it passes to the next generation.

The burden falls where the capacity to bear it is lowest

0%+

Over 60% of the world’s dementia burden falls in low- and middle-income countries, where climate risks are highest and adaptive capacity most constrained.

0M

Weather-related disasters drove 62.1 million internal displacements of children between 2016 and 2023.

These exposures do not act evenly. Dense urban environments create heat islands, and low-income groups breathe higher levels of air pollution while having less access to tree cover, green space, and quality housing.

Vulnerability is defined by the age and health of a body, by where it lives, and by whether it can afford to cool a room or leave a floodplain. Children, older adults, and populations in low- and middle-income countries bear the heaviest share.

Harms don’t arrive one exposure at a time

Brain health spans neurology, psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, neurodevelopment, and public mental health: domains governed by separate institutions with siloed budgets. The Working Group’s integrative model maps three interconnected pathways through which climate change reaches the brain. Each cuts across multiple institutional portfolios, and a central design challenge is coordination among them.

Brain health neurology · cognition · mental health · neurodevelopment

Interventions that target only one pathway (say, cutting pollution without addressing the social determinants of exposure; or scaling mental-health services without limiting the factors that generate demand) are often structurally insufficient. Policymakers must act at the convergence.

The blind spot

Policy architecture for climate and health exists for many outcomes and at many levels of governance. Yet it is siloed, and no current system directly addresses brain health. The gap is visible even for mental health, the subdomain with the most traction.

0%
of NDCs cover mental health Only 3% of nationally determined contributions include mental health considerations.
0%
of adaptation policies silent A 2025 review of national adaptation policies found 58% do not mention mental health at all; existing coverage is typically superficial.
0
of 160 countries Across 160 countries, not a single national adaptation policy addresses children’s mental health.
$0T
annual welfare loss, mental ill-health Even before climate harms, the global welfare loss from mental ill-health is valued at about $5 trillion a year, a burden that could account for 4 to 8% of regional GDP.
0×
more variance in brain aging A 2026 analysis across 34 countries found aggregated exposome models explained up to 15.5 times more variance in brain aging than individual exposures.
$0T
heat productivity loss, 2024 Heat-related reductions in labour capacity cost $1.09 trillion in potential income worldwide in 2024, likely due in part to cognitive impairment.

The Lancet Countdown tracks 57 indicators of health and climate change, yet still lacks a dedicated brain-health outcome measure, relying on a mental-health-adjacent sentiment proxy drawn from social media. Major economic assessments, including the World Bank’s most recent assessment for low- and middle-income countries, explicitly exclude mental health.

What we don’t yet know

While the science is progressing quickly, gaps remain.

Mechanisms and interventions. Most of the current evidence base is epidemiological: that is, it shows associations. Underlying biological pathways (related to blood-brain barrier disruption, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress, for example) are only partially characterized. And few studies assess which environmental interventions protect the brain.

Interacting exposures. Climate, environmental, and social factors interact, and their combined effects can’t be predicted by single-exposure studies. We need to look across the exposome.

The life course before birth. Studies of prenatal and preconception exposures are rare, yet children’s brains are the most vulnerable. Longitudinal studies from pregnancy into older age are needed to better understand sensitive windows and follow transmission across generations.

Data where the burden falls. Many research cohorts (and monitoring infrastructure) are based in high-income countries, and given drastically different exposure profiles, brain-health outcomes shouldn’t be compared across borders.

Frontline leadership. Research agendas and solutions must emerge from climate-vulnerable communities, with the most impacted as partners in research: from setting investigative priorities to interpreting results.

Prevention and resilience. Most studies look for evidence of harm. We understand far less about the potential benefits of the interventions that may strengthen brains under climate stress, including green space, social connection, nutrition, education, and urban planning and cultural practices.

And yet: policymaking is not starting from zero

Brain-health-protective policy can be built at every level of governance. Each action below is placed with the pathway it primarily engages, following the Working Group’s integrative model; most engage more than one, and the scales overlap.

Municipal and subnational

National

Multilateral and global

Biological

Clean air zones and low-emission districts

Cooling centers and equitable cooling access

Heat-mitigating green infrastructure and tree canopy

Air quality standards and emissions reduction

Brain health metrics in national climate vulnerability assessments

Brain-health screening and adapted clinical pathways

Mitigation commitments that reduce cumulative exposure

Health chapter of the IPCC Seventh Assessment Report

Psychological

Mental health integration in heat-health action plans

Psychological first aid and early-warning systems

Community cohesion and resilience programs

National climate-health strategies with mental health provisions

Crisis mental health intervention for climate disasters

Measurable mental health targets in nationally determined contributions

Operationalization of COP28 commitments on mental health

Operationalization of the Global Goal on Adaptation mental health indicator

Implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan

Social-structural

Environmental justice frameworks in urban planning

Prioritization of climate-vulnerable neighborhoods

Frontline representation in planning decisions

Targeted investment in underserved communities

Research capacity investment in low- and middle-income countries

Disaggregation of cognitive harms in Loss and Damage discussions and fund

Surveillance and monitoring

cross-cutting

Brain health indicators in environmental health surveillance

Psychosocial risk metrics in heat-health and adaptation plans

A Lancet Countdown brain-health outcome indicator

Cohort and exposure registry linkage

The co-benefits are already measurable

~46k
suicides prevented Analysis of China’s earlier Air Pollution Action Plan estimated it prevented roughly 46,000 suicides (95% CI 13,000–79,000) between 2013 and 2017.
0%
fewer PM2.5 deaths (EU) Stronger EU air-quality measures cut PM2.5-attributable premature deaths 57% between 2005 and 2023, meeting the Zero Pollution Plan’s 2030 target of at least 55% seven years early.

A roadmap for action

Protecting brain health in a changing climate requires coordinated action across governments, healthcare systems, researchers, educators, communities, individuals, and international organizations. While important knowledge gaps remain, many opportunities already exist to reduce climate-related risks, strengthen resilience, and promote healthier brains across the lifespan.

Policymakers
Include defined and measurable brain health provisions in nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans, and heat-health action plans, specifying protective actions and the indicators by which progress will be tracked. Develop standardized brain health indicators and surveillance systems to monitor climate-related neurological, cognitive, and mental health outcomes, identify populations at greatest risk, and evaluate the effectiveness and co-benefits of climate adaptation and mitigation policies.
Healthcare professionals
Identify patients at increased risk from extreme heat, air pollution, environmental contaminants, food insecurity, infectious diseases, and climate-related disasters. Develop continuity-of-care plans for individuals living with neurological and mental health conditions before climate-related emergencies.
Researchers
Advance the research priorities outlined in this report through interdisciplinary, collaborative, and globally representative research. Partner with patients, caregivers, youth, Indigenous communities, and people with lived experience throughout the research process.
Schools & educators
Create learning environments that protect children from extreme heat, poor air quality, and other environmental hazards. Equip teachers and school staff to recognize heat-related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes in students, and to know when and how to escalate concerns to families and health services.
Communities & civil society
Steward and activate local environments: community gardens, tree planting and maintenance, greening of vacant and neglected lots, and opening cooled, filtered-air spaces in libraries, places of worship, schools, and community centers during heat waves and smoke events. Advocate for equitable environmental policies and public investments, including policies that reduce fossil fuel emissions and investments in green space, cooling infrastructure, safe housing, and clean indoor air, and hold decision-makers to those commitments once made.
Individuals & families
Stay informed about heat, air quality, and extreme weather alerts, and reduce exposure during periods of elevated environmental risk whenever possible. Check on and support family members, neighbors, and others who may be particularly vulnerable during extreme weather events and throughout disaster recovery.
People with lived experience
Share lived experiences, including those of children, youth, caregivers, and frontline communities, to help shape research priorities, healthcare, education, and policy. Participate as partners in research, advisory groups, advocacy efforts, and community engagement initiatives from project design through implementation and dissemination.
International organizations & funders
Ensure neurological and cognitive harms are disaggregated within Loss and Damage and non-economic loss frameworks, and support the operationalization of mental health and psychosocial support indicators within adaptation frameworks. Support development of harmonized brain health indicators for climate surveillance and international reporting.

An opportunity

Several near-term processes open a concrete window for action.

NDC 3.0

From planning to implementation

NDC 3.0 is moving from planning into implementation, so the priority now is monitoring progress and securing follow-up where brain health remains absent.

IPCC AR7

Brain health in global scientific coordination

The IPCC AR7 cycle offers the opportunity to incorporate brain health evidence systematically into global scientific assessment.

Belém Plan

An international adaptation instrument

The Belém Health Action Plan has put mental health and psychosocial support into an international adaptation instrument; its value depends on implementation monitoring.

Instruments are in place.

The evidence is compelling.

The case for action is complete.

Climate policy cannot be considered comprehensive if it overlooks the organ through which people learn, work, adapt, make decisions, and build resilient societies. Integrating brain health into climate policy is an imperative correction to an approach operating with an incomplete picture of how climate change affects human health.

Read more

This page distills the Neuro Climate Working Group’s 2026 State of the Science Report. The full report and its underlying evidence follow below.

Read the report

To cite: Todorova B, Chen C, Aldern CP, Matonte A, Ikiz B. The Impact of Climate and Environmental Change on Brain Health: Neuro Climate Science and Policy Report. Neuro Climate Working Group; 2026. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22713250

Further reading

  • Brain Health: The Blind Spot in Climate Policy. Aldern, Todorova, Massazza, Lawrance, et al. One Earth. 2026;9(9):101835. · doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101835
  • The Impact of Climate and Environmental Change on Brain Health: Current Insights and Emerging Evidence. Todorova, Matonte, Chen, Aldern, et al. In review.

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