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Health Professionals and the Climate Crisis: Trusted Voices, Essential Roles
Author(s) -
Maibach Edward,
Frumkin Howard,
Ahdoot Samantha
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
world medical and health policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.326
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 1948-4682
DOI - 10.1002/wmh3.421
Subject(s) - public health , climate change , global health , health policy , political science , public relations , work (physics) , global warming , business , environmental resource management , environmental planning , medicine , geography , economics , nursing , ecology , biology , mechanical engineering , engineering
Climate change has triggered a global public health emergency that, unless adequately addressed, is likely to become a multigenerational public health catastrophe. The policy actions needed to limit global warming deliver a wide range of public health benefits above and beyond those that will result from limiting climate change. Moreover, these health benefits are immediate and local, addressing one of the most vexing challenges of climate solutions: that the benefits of greenhouse gas reduction are seen as long‐term and global, which are remote from the concerns of many jurisdictions. In this commentary, we identify roles that health professionals and health organizations can play, individually and collectively, to advance equitable climate and health policies in their communities, health systems, states, and nations. Ultimately, health voices can work across national boundaries to influence the world's commitments to the Paris Agreement, arguably the world's most important public health goal.