Access to a healthy natural environment could save the NHS billions of pounds a year, Sir James Bevan will say in a speech at UCL
In a major speech, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency will today (Tuesday 8 September) say that universal access to a healthy natural environment could save the NHS billions of pounds a year in treatment costs if everyone in England had access to good quality green space.
Sir James Bevan will highlight evidence which shows the physical and mental health benefits of good environment, and make the case for “levelling up” access to the environment as part of the green recovery from coronavirus. He will also lay out the steps the Environment Agency is taking to protect and enhance our precious green and blue spaces, while adapting to the threat of a changing climate.
The speech coincides with the publication of the Environment Agency’s ‘The State of the Environment: health, people and the environment’, which shows the green inequality in society.
The report – which brings together a wide range of evidence – finds that people living in deprived areas are not only more likely to have poorer health outcomes, they also have poorer quality environments and access to less green space. One study found that city communities with 40% or more black, Asian or ethnic minority residents have access to 11 times fewer green spaces locally than those comprising mainly white residents.
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Posted On: 08/09/2020