Student nurses will be caring for people because of the consequences of climate change. Climate change is likely to lead to an increased demand on emergency and health services; it is clear that the environmental problems and effects associated with it are already happening and impact most heavily on older people, children, and low-income families.

Vulnerability assessments are new requirements for regional planning. They aim to identify vulnerable 'hotspots' toclimate change to inform adaptation measures which need to be taken into consideration through regional spatial planning and economic strategy processes.

I would like to develop a forum for shared ideas and intelligence to enable us to maximise this opportunity to improve health and reduce health inequalities through this regional planning initiative.