Building a Global Climate-Health Movement at Purpose

At the World Health Assembly this week, governments and health leaders came together around a landmark opportunity: the adoption of the first-ever WHO Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health. The Global Action Plan marks more than policy progress. It’s a recognition of what communities around the world already understand: the health of people and the planet are interconnected, and we can’t protect one without caring for the other.

Importantly, this milestone would not have been possible without the leadership of African countries, who played a critical role in championing this agenda and pushing it across the finish line.

At Purpose, this moment feels both urgent and inevitable. For years, we’ve seen the power of connecting climate action to what people care about most; their health, their children’s futures, and their communities’ wellbeing. The fight for climate justice is inseparable from the fight for health equity. From the air we breathe to the quality of our water and the safety of our green spaces, the links between planetary and human health are clear, and the stakes have never been higher.

While global institutions formalise frameworks, people around the world are already leading change. They’re not just responding, they are leading the way, naming the crisis, claiming space in the conversation, and designing locally rooted solutions. We have worked alongside these communities to co-create initiatives that put wellbeing, resilience and justice at the heart of climate action. From tackling air pollution in rapidly urbanising cities to sparking meaningful conversations around mental health and climate anxiety, our work helps turn awareness into action.

Building a movement for Climate and Health

At Purpose, we believe that the most powerful climate solutions start with the people most affected. That’s why we begin by listening, because the communities facing the greatest health impacts from the climate crisis already hold the insight, urgency, and leadership needed to drive change.

Our campaigns don’t treat people as passive audiences. We work alongside them as storytellers, organisers, and advocates, connecting climate science to daily realities in ways that feel personal and actionable.

Civic power is central to our approach. We support communities to speak up, shape the narrative, and hold institutions accountable. And we use storytelling not just to raise awareness, but to build emotional connection, shared identity, and the momentum needed to move systems. Across every project, we’ve seen that when people see themselves in the story, they show up, not just for awareness, but for action.

Our work focusses on: 

• Crafting new narratives that make climate action feel personal, urgent, and rooted in health
• Building the leadership and infrastructure needed for communities to sustain change
• Bridging sectors, bringing together artists, researchers, athletes and activists to co-create impact
• Pairing grassroots energy with policy influence to shift the systems that shape our lives

Because real change starts when people feel it, own it, and carry it forward themselves. 

Case Study: Niko Active

In Kenya, the health impacts of climate change are not a distant threat, they’re happening now. But despite these realities, there remains a deep gap in understanding how climate and health intersect, from local communities to national decision-makers.

In partnership with Wellcome we launched Niko Active to launch just this.

We co-created the campaign with grassroots groups and local leaders to connect climate science with real, lived experiences, especially those of rural women. By developing compelling stories that made the health impacts of climate change tangible and relatable, we equipped athletes, policymakers, and gatekeepers with the tools they needed to advocate for action.

From a high-level gatekeeper roundtable to partnerships with elite Kenyan marathoners, Niko Active showed how powerful a role sport can play in driving climate-health advocacy. We distributed over 300 toolkits, supported 27 community initiatives, and recruited 23 influencers at the Iten Marathon to amplify the message. The campaign’s ripple effect helped seed the Rural Women’s Club with GROOTS Kenya, a new initiative that will continue to build women’s leadership on climate and health far beyond the campaign’s timeline.

“As an athlete, I firmly believe that highlighting the correlation between climate and health, particularly within the realm of sports, offers a crucial entry point for ongoing discussions within our communities.” – Amos Kimutai, Marathoner

Case Study: Not Just Small Talk

Climate change isn’t just reshaping our environment, it’s already impacting people’s health. Yet for many, the risks of extreme heat still feel abstract. Not Just Small Talk, developed by Purpose in partnership with Wellcome, set out to shift that narrative.

The campaign focused on raising awareness of the health impacts of extreme heat, particularly among a key group in the UK known as “Loyal Nationals”, a politically significant audience segment that tends to skew older and is often overlooked in climate communication. Grounded in research and co-created with partners like Round Our Way, the campaign used culturally resonant storytelling and trusted messengers to connect climate change with everyday experiences, like British summer holidays and conversations about the weather.

Through a series of targeted interventions, ranging from social media content and newspaper GIFs to case study videos and talent-led explainers, the campaign reframed extreme heat not as a distant or exotic problem, but as a pressing health issue affecting people and their loved ones right now. By elevating voices from impacted communities and partnering with organisations like Age UK and the British Red Cross, Not Just Small Talk helped make climate and health feel urgent, relatable, and worthy of national attention.

Case Study: Bengaluru Moving

In Bengaluru, the climate crisis is already shaping daily life. Air pollution, rising heat, and traffic congestion are not just urban challenges, they’re public health threats. For many, especially women, unsafe and unreliable transport makes it harder to access not just jobs, but also healthcare, fresh air, and peace of mind.

That’s where Bengaluru Moving, led by Purpose Climate Lab in collaboration with Sensing Local and YLAC, stepped in.

Now in its second phase, the campaign focused on making non-motorised transport (NMT), like walking and cycling, safer, more accessible, and more inclusive, especially for working women in the IT and tech-adjacent sectors. With support from DULT and other local stakeholders, the campaign activated civic participation in both policy and design, using art, community engagement, and public storytelling to reimagine the future of urban mobility.

Bengaluru Moving also highlighted how more sustainable and integrated transport options can enhance affordable access to essential services, including healthcare. Buses, in particular, play a vital role in connecting low-income and peripheral communities to hospitals, clinics, and care centres in safer and more reliable ways than informal last-mile options such as autorickshaws.

The campaign placed health at the centre of mobility justice, spotlighting how long commutes, unsafe infrastructure, and air pollution are undermining both physical and mental wellbeing. From cycle schools for women and walking tours in heritage districts, to QR-coded street art and policy fellowships for young professionals, Bengaluru Moving transformed mobility from a niche infrastructure concern into a city-wide movement. It reached over 2.5 million people online, trained more than 100 women in cycling, produced three policy toolkits, and shifted mindsets around what a just, climate-resilient transport system could look like.

The Bigger Picture

What we’ve learned through our work is clear: climate change and health are deeply interconnected, not in theory, but in the lived realities of communities around the world. This work cuts through political divides, connects with personal values, and makes the impacts of climate change immediate and tangible. When human wellbeing is centered in climate responses, we not only address urgent needs, but build a more just, resilient future for everyone.

At Purpose, we are building a global climate-health movement rooted in these truths. From mental wellbeing to mobility justice, from rural Kenya to inner-city London, we’re helping communities take control of the narrative, and the solutions. 

What’s Next: Building Momentum After the World Health Assembly

As the World Health Assembly adopts the Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health, the opportunity is clear: to place human wellbeing at the heart of climate policy. 

Looking ahead to COP30 in Brazil and other key global convenings, this intersection must not be treated as peripheral, it should be at the core of how we design climate response and resilience.

At Purpose, we’re doubling down. We’re working with partners across the world to amplify frontline voices, support local leadership, and keep the conversation grounded in people’s real lives. Because when people understand that climate change is affecting their health, they care. When they believe they can act, they do.  

Want to learn more about how our movement building methodology can support action at the intersection of climate and health? Our team brings experience in strategy, storytelling and community mobilisation. Contact us to explore how we can help turn awareness into action for your organisation!