Growing Old in a Changing Climate: meeting the challenges of an ageing population and climate change

Climate change and an ageing population in the United Kingdom bring together two key policy challenges which need to be addressed to ensure a safe, secure, equitable and sustainable future. Vulnerability of people in old age arises from the interactions between advantages and disadvantages accumulated during the course of one's life and the experience of threats in later life. Whether this interaction creates a better or worse outcome depends on the individual's coping resources. Climate vulnerability in old age requires an understanding of exposure factors and their distribution over time and the way individuals manage or fail to mobilise social, material and public resources to protect themselves from bad outcomes. Section 4.4 of this report covers the possible effects of climate change on transport.