Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act of 2025
The Climate Change Health Protection and Promotion Act of 2025 would create the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This Office would lead federal efforts to understand and respond to how climate change affects health and the health care system. The bill requires the secretary to develop and publish a National Strategic Action Plan within one year that coordinates federal actions to prepare for and respond to climate-related health threats, with ongoing updates and revisions each year. It also establishes a Science Advisory Board to provide expert input and requires periodic reporting from the National Academies to help public health and health care professionals prepare for climate health impacts. The act authorizes funding for the Office, the plan, and the advisory board and directs activities to support environmental justice and medically underserved communities, improve data and modeling, reduce health-sector emissions, and strengthen health system preparedness for events like heat waves and infectious disease outbreaks. In short, the bill aims to centralize climate-health planning within HHS, ensure coordinated federal action and stakeholder engagement, and strengthen the health sector’s capacity to protect communities—especially those most affected by climate change—through data, workforce development, and resilience planning.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity within HHS, headed by a Director, to lead federal actions on the health impacts of climate change and to coordinate with other agencies and stakeholders.
- 2Requirement to publish a National Strategic Action Plan within 1 year of enactment, plus ongoing updates. The plan must identify vulnerable communities, address health disparities, promote preparedness, track health data, model health impacts, support infrastructure, reduce health-sector emissions, and provide technical assistance to states, tribes, and localities.
- 3Extensive collaboration and consultation for the plan, including multiple federal agencies and meaningful input from environmental justice communities, medically underserved communities, Tribal governments, health care providers, public health groups, and scientists.
- 4Creation of a permanent Science Advisory Board (10–20 members) to provide scientific guidance, inform Office activities and the plan, with annual or more frequent reporting to Congress.
- 5Health impact assessments and ongoing oversight: the Secretary must identify laws and programs affecting climate-health outcomes and other agencies must assess their impacts on climate-health protection, with support to state, tribal, and local governments.
- 6Funding and authorization: the bill authorizes specific appropriations for the Office ($10 million/year 2026–2031), the National Strategic Action Plan ($2 million in FY2026), and the Advisory Board ($0.5 million in FY2026), with funding available as specified.