Global health requires embracing planetary health from an early age
Author: Dr Amin Sharifan1
1. Department for Evidence-based Medicine and Evaluation, University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria
Prologue
She was pondering on the latest UN report on the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the research she had read about planetary health, and the effect of climate change on people. Overwhelmed, she turned on the radio and heard a melancholy voice sing, "People, silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words and I might teach you." But, as she recalled that climate activists' words fell like silent raindrops, and echoed in the wells of the crowded pumping of machines and industries throughout the years, another song started. This one, however, resembled the lonely voice of the activists and resonated within herself, “What about sunrise…? What about all the things in the clear blue skies…?” Deeply absorbed in her thoughts, she murmured, “Where did we all go wrong?”
The UN and the alarming setbacks in climate action
The United Nations' (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive framework and an urgent call to action. It consists of 17 SDGs, subdivided into 169 targets. Each target addresses a unique aspect of progress towards a prosperous future for humanity and the planet. All UN member states adopted this agenda in September 2015 through a global partnership.
Now, nearly nine years after its adoption, the latest report from the UN Secretary-General presents a troubling outlook. The report opens with the statement, “As we begin the second half of our journey to 2030, signs of a determined, sustained global comeback have yet to emerge. This year’s report reveals that only seventeen percent of SDG targets are on track to be achieved, nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over a third has stalled or even regressed.”
The 2024 progress assessment further underscores these concerns: “The 2024 progress assessment reveals the world is severely off-track to achieve the 2030 Agenda… Out of 135 targets with trend data and additional insights from custodian agencies, only 17% are progressing as expected to be achieved by 2030. Nearly half (48%) exhibit moderate to severe deviations from the desired trajectory, with 30% showing marginal progress and 18% indicating moderate progress. Alarmingly, 18% have stagnated, and 17% have regressed below the 2015 baseline levels.”
Among these pressing issues, none of the targets for Goal 13, which focuses on Climate Action, are on track to be met by the proposed deadline.
The links of climate change with diseases
Rising land temperatures, coupled with the earlier onset of industrial-era warming, indicate that by 2020, global warming had already reached approximately 1.7 ± 0.1 °C above pre-industrial levels (defined by these researchers as the years between 1700 and 1860). This alarming trend highlights that the warming of the environment has progressed faster than expected, with researchers now projecting a 2° C global warming two decades earlier than anticipated. The implications of this warming are far-reaching. It increases food insecurity and malnutrition, predisposing people—particularly children and women—to diseases. Additionally, it significantly impacts several chronic diseases, including metabolic, cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental disorders. Moreover, climate change creates conditions that can cause the emergence and aggravation of various disease-causing microbes affecting humans (e.g. bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoans), not to mention the wider distribution of tropical diseases in areas where they have previously been uncommon. Therefore, when connecting the dots, it is evident that climate change plays a crucial role in the prevalence and incidence of a wide range of diseases on a global scale.
Disproportionate burden of climate change
Evidence suggests that a select group of countries classified as high-income economies by the World Bank have played a significant role in the atmospheric release of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—key contributors to global warming—between 1851 and 2021. The repercussions of these emissions have not only negatively affected minority groups within these affluent nations, but they have also severely impacted communities in the Global South; thereby making health inequities more pronounced within and between countries. As a result, poorer communities are facing significant challenges and setbacks due to the consequences of climate change.
Where to next?
In the opening of one of his commentaries in The Lancet, Richard Horton writes, “Global health is the invention of a largely white and wealthy elite residing in high-income, English-language speaking countries. The discipline claims to be concerned about the health of people living in low-income and middle-income settings. But the resources—human, infrastructural, and financial—underpinning global health are mostly concentrated in those countries already replete with power and money.” Evidence points to the fact that such high-income countries are among the biggest contributors to the deterioration of climate change and, consequently, planetary health, while those living in resource-limited settings face detrimental living conditions that pose significant problems for their health. In addition, the words of Dr Olusoji Adeyi, the President of Resilient Health Systems, send shivers down my spine: “The Global North decides the narrative and assumes the omniscience to tell the Global South what the latter needs, when it can have it, how to do it, and on whose terms it must be done.” So, what could be done to overcome such obstacles?
A key turning point was the pledges and financial opportunities made possible with global collaboration in COP28, especially from the Global North. These efforts comprise:
• Removing obstacles to integrating health into the climate discourse
• Advancing the fight against neglected tropical diseases
• Safeguarding the most vulnerable countries and communities that require humanitarian support in times of conflict or disaster.
I believe that a portion of the available funding should be dedicated to training the next generation of climate change activists from diverse backgrounds and skill sets. It is crucial to embed the principles of planetary health, including climate change, into the foundation of education from an early age. Imagine students learning about these principles during their formative school years. While some may pursue a variety of majors throughout their college and university years, and others may choose direct employment paths, they will ultimately share a common commitment: a deep respect for the land they inhabit and a dedication to preserving it for future generations. What is your stance on this? Do you think along the same lines?
Epilogue
When the songs were over, the lady we all know about said to herself, “Those who suffer most won't be able to buy a stairway to heaven. There's still time for us to change the road we're on, and give our beloved planet—and fellow humans—another chance.” Then, some decades later, down by the seaside, there may be a chance for others to hear what the little fish are sayin' and see the boats go sailin'. So, even though you can’t always get what you want, if you try sometimes, you may get what you need.
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To link to this article - DOI: https://doi.org/10.70253/TXJI9432
Co-publication declaration
This blog has not been fully or partially published elsewhere.
Conflict of interest
Amin Sharifan is a member of the Cochrane Early Career Professionals Steering Group.
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