Anthropogenic climate change is happening. Fossil fuel burning and atmospheric trapping of greenhouses gases is impacting our climate and affecting public health. Life on this planet, including human life, societies and civilisation, relies on a delicate balance of natural processes creating a liveable planet. Human health cannot be separated from the Earth’s systems, including animal and environmental health. This lens is known as Planetary Health; it also focuses on justice, inclusive equity, and collaboration to break through silos and achieve the greatest positive impact in facing climate change.
However, public health has another trick up their sleeve; health co-benefits. Identifying and linking health co-benefits is a convincing way to make linkages between silos to bring together action in a cohesive way. Populations traditionally excluded from decision-making, including people at the extremes of age, marginalised ethnic groups, Indigenous peoples, and the Global South, as well as those who stand to suffer the most from climate change, all need to be part of the decision-making process. Silos need to be broken, stakeholders need to be included, and equity and justice need to be the focus.
