Climate change is not just an environmental threat but poses major and growing risks to the health of today’s population and future generations. It is already adversely affecting human health and health systems, and projected climate change will also increasingly undermine the functioning of health care systems and broader public health efforts. While adaptation is essential, there will be limits to our ability to adapt, and cutting emissions rapidly to protect health is vital. Progress towards zero emissions will bring not only long term benefits for health by reducing the risks from climate change but will also improve health in the near term, for instance through reduced exposure to air pollution by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy; healthy and more sustainable food and transport systems. This presentation will summarise the evidence for the health (co-) benefits of climate action and suggest how progress towards net zero emissions could be accelerated.
Episode 13 will feature Prof Sir Andy Haines: Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Climate Change, Health and Sustainable Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Andy was formerly Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL and Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2001- October 2010. He was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2nd , 3rd and 5th assessment exercises. He chaired the Rockefeller /Lancet Commission on Planetary Health and the InterAcademy Partnership working group on climate change and health. He currently co-chairs the Lancet Pathfinder Commission on Pathways to a Healthy Net Zero Future. He was knighted for services to medicine in 2005. He was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2022 and a DSc honoris causa by ANU in 2024.
The Saving the World Webinar Series is presented by the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse, the series discusses the intersections between climate change, inequity, and human health. The focus is on actions that enable transformative change away from the harmful consumptogenic system to systems that promote good health, social equity and environmental wellbeing.
Event Speakers
Andy Haines
Sir Andy Haines is Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Climate Change Health and Sustainable Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Sharon Friel
Prof Sharon Friel is an ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Health Equity and Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Governance at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia and co-Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity.
Megan Arthur
Dr Megan Arthur is a Laureate Research Fellow with the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse. She is an interdisciplinary qualitative researcher working at the intersection of social policy and public health. She studies the politics of governance for health and wellbeing at multiple levels.