[ad_1]
Harvard researchers have described the lifestyle changes that should occur at the societal level to optimize the health and well-being of the general population and the planet by a statement in The Lancet Tuesday.
The São Paulo Declaration on Planetary Health – which has been signed by more than 250 organizations from 47 countries – was led by the Planetary Health Alliance, a global consortium hosted by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health aimed at advancing the new field of planetary health. .
The Planetary Health Alliance was formed after a 2015 report revealed the devastating impact of human activities on the planet’s natural systems and human health, according to founder and director Samuel S. Myers. He said he launched the Alliance in 2016 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation to “sound the alarm bells” about the looming global challenge.
Jeremy Pivor – senior program coordinator at the Planetary Health Alliance and co-author of the statement – said planetary health focuses on analyzing “how disruptions to our natural systems affect human health.”
The main purpose of the statement is to clarify the problem and make a clear distinction between planetary health and climate change, according to Myers.
“People don’t really understand the statement of the problem, so most people confuse planetary health with climate change,” he said. “I think if we are wrong about this diagnosis, we are wrong about the treatment as well.”
The real problem is that humanity’s ecological footprint exceeds the planet’s ability to sustainably produce and absorb the resources people need, Myers explained.
To address this issue, the declaration calls on humanity to embrace a profound structural change – which they call the Great Transition – in most dimensions of human activity, including food and energy consumption, manufacturing of goods, urban planning and governance.
“Everyone in all sectors of human society will have to affect this Great Transition,” he said.
Although the declaration was first conceived in 2019 before the pandemic, Pivor said that Covid-19 nonetheless positively influenced the way the Alliance approached planetary health and the declaration.
“Covid-19 has shown us the urgency of the issue, but has also shown us our ability to deal with it,” Pivor said.
Myers added that the statement also highlights the social justice dimension of planetary health.
“When you think about who bears the burden of degraded natural systems, who suffers the health effects, that burden is disproportionately borne by the poor, people of color, indigenous communities and future generations,” Myers said. .
“It’s basically just deeply unfair because it is not the communities that have contributed the most to this transformation of nature,” he added.
The Planetary Health Alliance hosted a virtual launch event for the release of the statement on Wednesday. The event featured brief remarks from Myers, Pivor and other Alliance members, as well as Antonio M. Saraiva, a professor at the University of São Paulo who hosted the 2021 annual health meeting. planetary system that created the São Paulo Declaration.
The event concluded with a series of short videos, featuring representatives of the signatories sharing their reasons for supporting the São Paulo Declaration, ranging from the recognition that the climate crisis is one of the most critical issues in this generation to the recognition that in an “interconnected planet, no one is safe until everyone is safe.
The HSPH Center for Climate, Global Health and Environment was one of the declaration’s many signatories.
Skye S. Flanigan, program manager at C-CHANGE, wrote in an emailed statement that the statement recognizes that putting planetary health first will enable new economic opportunities, less pollution and create safer and more resilient communities. , among many other advantages.
During the event, Saraiva highlighted the imminence of the problem and the need for humanity to change their way of life.
“We cannot prosper until nature’s life support systems collapse under the weight of our own activities,” he said. “If we do it right, our grandchildren could inherit a truly wonderful future. “
—Editor-in-Chief Ariel H. Kim can be contacted at [email protected].
[ad_2]
Source link