Nick Watts

Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health

The 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change has been formed to map out the impacts of climate change, and the necessary policy responses, in order to ensure the highest attainable stand ...

The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health

The Lancet Countdown tracks progress on health and climate change and provides an independent assessment of the health effects of climate change, the implementation of the Paris Agreement, 1 and th ...

Climate change: the challenge for healthcare professionals

They need to use their ability to communicate bad news in a way that stimulates a positive response

Combating climate change.

Health professional bodies unite for a fairer and healthier world

Most London hospitals and clinics exceed air pollution limits

More than half of London’s NHS facilities are blanketed in air pollution that is above legal limits, shows new analysis jointly published by King’s College London and the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change. Health professionals are having to care for their patients in environments where air pollution could aggravate existing illnesses. NHS staff are among those exposed to this health risk, but it is patients’ health that is of most concern, especially children’s. Air pollutants, and in particular fine particles and nitrogen dioxide, damage our health throughout our lifetime, from before birth and well into old age. Robust scientific evidence has linked poor air quality to an increased prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer.1 Emerging evidence indicates a link between exposure to air pollution and type 2 diabetes, obesity, and dementia.2 Toxins and particulates are pumped into the air by our cars and power plants, damaging our health in the short term. In the long term the same activities produce …

An alliance for action on climate change

november 25 :: vol 30 no 13 :: 2015 17 Anne Marie Raff erty is professor of nursing policy and director of academic outreach , Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London. Robin Stott is co-chair of the Climate and Health Council. Nick Watts is director of the UK Health Professionals Alliance to Combat Climate Change. AU TH O RS An alliance for action on climate change

Doctors talk climate change—students take action

Ian Roberts and Robin Stott (Nov 27, p 1801) call for collective action from health professionals against the causes of climate change. Students can have a vital role in the debate on the eff ects of climate change on health. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) represents more than 1·2 million medical students from more than 100 countries. Climate change is a key policy focus of the federation, which pursues meaningful political action in the national and international arenas. Students have developed intensive workshops on climate change and health. Run all over the world, these aim to empower more students with the skills needed for meaningful action. Attendees are encouraged to lead by personal example and infl uence the institutions where we study and work to reduce emissions. In Australia, for example, educational videos and posters cover the hospital common rooms, announcing a “Code green emergency”. On the national scene, medical students urge ministers of health to discuss the health-related eff ects of climate change with their environment and energy ministers. In the UK, for example, medical students have targeted the general public through a petition and their politicians by marching in front of Parliament. On the basis of our experiences, we urge the following: (1) Climate change and its eff ect on health should be included in students’ For the IFMSA website see http://www.ifmsa.org/ core medical curricula. Future doctors should become familiar with the scientifi c evidence and be comfortable with their role in society as public health advocates. (2) Health professionals as indi viduals and their representative or gani sations must lobby their local and national authorities to reduce emissions. The Climate and Health Council can have a mediating role in this process. (3) Human health should be on the agenda of the international ne go ti ations in the upcoming UN 17th Conference of Parties in Durban, South Africa, so as to achieve a fair, ambitious, and legally binding global treaty. If we ignore the initial symptoms of climate change, the eff ects on health become greater. If we fail to adapt to climate change adequately, we as future physicians will be the fi rst to cope with the catastrophic consequences.

Global governance and the broader determinants of health: A comparative case study of UNDP’s and WTO’s engagement with global health

ABSTRACT This comparative case study investigated how two intergovernmental organisations without formal health mandates – the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – have engaged with global health issues. Triangulating insights from key institutional documents, ten semi-structured interviews with senior officials, and scholarly books tracing the history of both organisations, the study identified an evolving and broadened engagement with global health issues in UNDP and WTO. Within WTO, the dominant view was that enhancing international trade is instrumental to improving global health, although the need to resolve tensions between public health objectives and WTO agreements was recognised. For UNDP, interviewees reported that the agency gained prominence in global health for its response to HIV/AIDS in the 1990s and early 2000s. Learning from that experience, the agency has evolved and expanded its role in two respects: it has increasingly facilitated processes to provide global normative direction for global health issues such as HIV/AIDS and access to medicines, and it has expanded its focus beyond HIV/AIDS. Overall, the study findings suggest the need for seeking greater integration among international institutions, closing key global institutional gaps, and establishing a shared global institutional space for promoting action on the broader determinants of health.

Climate Change: From Science to Practice

Purpose of ReviewClimate change poses a significant threat to human health. Understanding how climate science can be translated into public health practice is an essential first step in enabling robust adaptation and improving resiliency to climate change.Recent FindingsRecent research highlights the importance of iterative approaches to public health adaptation to climate change, enabling uncertainties of health impacts and barriers to adaptation to be accounted for. There are still significant barriers to adaptation, which are context-specific and thus present unique challenges to public health practice. The implementation of flexible adaptation approaches, using frameworks targeted for public health, is key to ensuring robust adaptation to climate change in public health practice.SummaryThe BRACE framework provides an excellent approach for health adaptation to climate change. Combining this with the insights provided and by the adaptation pathways approach allows for more deliberate accounting of long-term uncertainties. The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into public health practice and planning is important in facilitating this approach and overcoming the significant barriers to effective adaptation. Yet, the immediate and future limits to adaptation provide clear justification for urgent and accelerated efforts to mitigate climate change.

Christiana Figueres joins The Lancet Countdown—delivering on the promise of Paris

The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change marked historic progress for the planet and human health. Signatories agreed to limit global temperature rise to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels”; redouble a global commitment of financial flows to developing countries of US