Physical activity and climate change are deeply interconnected, and addressing them together could deliver far greater health and environmental benefits than tackling them separately. Researchers have developed a new framework showing how well-designed exercise and movement initiatives can contribute to climate mitigation, help communities adapt to climate impacts, and promote health equity all at once. The Physical Activity and Climate Change (PACC) model offers a practical roadmap for creating integrated solutions that work across sectors and communities.

Why Haven't We Connected These Two Major Health Crises Before?

For decades, public health experts have treated physical inactivity and climate change as separate problems requiring separate solutions. But this siloed approach is no longer working. Physical inactivity remains a stubborn global health challenge, while climate change is already causing measurable harm to human health. In 2024, global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, marking a critical climate milestone.

The disconnect is striking: while climate change has been approached from a population-wide perspective, physical activity promotion has largely focused on individual-level factors like personal motivation or gym memberships. Meanwhile, climate change receives less individual attention than its actual harm warrants. Vulnerable communities face the compounded risks of rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and forced migration—all while conditions linked to physical inactivity, such as heart disease and obesity, make people more vulnerable during climate-related emergencies like heatwaves.

How Can Movement Actually Help Combat Climate Change?

The connection works in multiple directions. When cities redesign themselves to encourage active transportation—walking, cycling, and public transit instead of driving—they simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and increase physical activity levels in residents. Built environment changes like safer sidewalks, bike lanes, and accessible parks create what researchers call "activity-friendly cities" that benefit both human health and the environment.

Community-driven physical activity and sport-based programs also help communities adapt to climate impacts. These initiatives can support people displaced by climate events, build social cohesion, and improve mental health during periods of environmental disruption. Indigenous knowledge about movement, land use, and sustainable living offers additional insights that modern climate and health strategies often overlook.

Ways to Build Integrated Physical Activity and Climate Solutions

• Urban Design Transformation: Redesign neighborhoods to prioritize walking, cycling, and public transportation over car dependency, reducing emissions while increasing daily movement opportunities for all residents.
• Community-Centered Programs: Develop sport and physical activity initiatives that address local climate adaptation needs, particularly for populations most affected by climate change and environmental inequities.
• Equitable Access: Ensure that outdoor spaces for physical activity are safe, accessible, and available to low-income communities and marginalized populations who face disproportionate climate risks.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Align efforts across urban planning, transportation, public health, environmental agencies, and community organizations to create systemic change rather than isolated programs.
• Indigenous Knowledge Integration: Incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and movement practices from Indigenous communities into climate adaptation and physical activity strategies.

What Are the Main Barriers to Making This Work?

Four significant obstacles currently prevent progress on integrated climate and physical activity solutions. First, the impacts fall unequally on vulnerable populations—low-income communities and residents of lower-income countries face greater climate risks while having less access to safe spaces for physical activity. Second, many people lack safe and equitable access to outdoor environments where they can be physically active. Third, research, policy, and practice remain misaligned, with different sectors working in isolation. Fourth, well-intentioned interventions can have unintended consequences if not carefully designed.

For example, a shift toward electric vehicles could reduce transportation emissions, but without thoughtful planning, it could create new inequities if low-income communities are excluded from the benefits or if public transit is neglected in favor of private electric cars. Similarly, extreme heat events directly threaten outdoor physical activity—people cannot safely exercise outside during dangerous heatwaves, highlighting the need for climate-resilient cities with cooling centers and indoor activity options.

What Does a Systems-Based Approach Actually Look Like?

The PACC model emphasizes that solving these interconnected challenges requires systems-focused, community-driven, and co-designed solutions centered on environmental sustainability and equity. This means moving beyond individual-level interventions—like telling people to exercise more—toward collective, population-wide solutions that reshape the environments where people live, work, and play.

Practical solutions draw on Indigenous knowledge, sport for development programs, and the documented co-benefits of integrated action. A collaborative, whole-systems approach within and across sectors can contribute to adapting to and mitigating climate change while improving health through solutions that work simultaneously for both physical activity and climate goals. The key is ensuring that these solutions prioritize the communities most affected by both physical inactivity and climate change.

The evidence is clear: aligning physical activity and climate change agendas is more powerful than addressing them separately. When cities become more walkable, when communities gain access to safe outdoor spaces, and when climate adaptation strategies incorporate movement and sport, everyone benefits—human health improves, greenhouse gas emissions decline, and environmental sustainability advances. The question is no longer whether these agendas should be connected, but how quickly we can redesign our systems to make it happen.