Mathew Neidell

This report describes the approach for valuing human health effects from global environmental change. The rationale for valuing human health impacts is to improve comparisons of the benefits from environmental improvements with its costs. Valuation involves quantifying the extent of the human health effects, and then monetising these effects using various approaches, such as the value of a statistical life. Since estimates are typically produced on a local level, many assumptions are needed to produce global estimates. Several examples of studies that have valued human health impacts on a global scale are discussed, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each. There is strong evidence that global environmental change harms human health, though the human health effects only represent a small fraction of the total effects on human well-being.