September 29, 2014 takepart
Increasingly, health is becoming part of the climate conversation. The President’s Climate Action Plan and the proposed EPA Clean Power Plan both cite health as a major reason for action. The World Health Organization convened its first global conference focused on climate and health.The latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association calls upon medical professionals to engage with the issue. And PHI’s Action in Climate Change and Health convening on the eve of the UN Climate Summit brought together health and public health leaders to address the connection.
There’s a positive health message in all of this, said Jennifer Miller of the Center for climate change and health. “Some of the key strategies for addressing climate change—walkable cities, clean energy, healthier diets, and sustainable agriculture—also address some of the major health issues we’ve been grappling with for years, such as obesity, heart disease, and asthma.”