In December 2023, in conjunction with the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the HHS Climate Change and Health Equity Strategy Supplement. This document describes both the specific challenges the public health, health care and human services sectors face with respect to climate change—and for the first time in one place—captures specific planned responses of relevant HHS operating and staff divisions to prevent harm across communities and health care facilities in the U.S.

The document is a supplement to the existing HHS Climate Action Plan and is focused on the outward-facing, programmatic activities agencies are carrying out in support of resilience and sustainability across the country. The plans include:

• Working with the Administration for Community Living to promote information on cooling centers
• Incorporating climate change information into the CDC’s public health emergency preparedness plan
• Advising states through CMS on how to address climate change as a social determinant of health in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
• Studying climate change’s impact on food producers at the Food and Drug Administration