Healthy Planet, Better World

 

Our economic system is responsible for driving unsustainable levels of consumption and carbon emissions. Meanwhile, those most vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change may be those least responsible for it. This session will discuss the historical and current economic drivers of climate change and its impacts.

 

Come and hear Global Justice Now director, Nick Dearden, speak about economic drivers of climate change and its impacts at the Medact’s event, Healthy Planet, Better World.
 

Human health is dependent on a healthy environment. Yet we are damaging ecosystems and depleting natural resources in ways that undermine our ability to sustain healthy and equitable societies.

 

The threats posed by climate change and wider environmental degradation are serious. According to a Lancet-UCL Commission, climate change could be “sufficient to trigger a discontinuity in the long-term progression of humanity”. Indeed, on the basis of current emission trajectories, “temperature rises in the next 85 years may be incompatible with an organised global community”.

 

However, the challenge this represents also presents a number of opportunities to promote health, both short and long-term. These include reducing air pollution, promoting active forms of transport,  healthier food systems, and working towards a fairer, more equal economy and society.