Health professional advocates
The movement for healthy people and a healthy planet
Health professionals are both trusted communicators and important actors when it comes to protecting public health.
It is no surprise that health professionals are some of the most respected voices calling for climate solutions in their workplaces, their communities, and the halls of government. They are effective advocates who can influence policymakers, businesses, and hospital system leadership to deploy climate commitments and solutions aligned with the Paris Agreement.
As the number of people dying from air pollution and fossil fuel-triggered respiratory diseases escalates with the climate crisis, so does the need for a vibrant, well-resourced health professional movement. Health Care Without Harm is committed to helping build that movement–a groundswell of health workers standing up for a broader, society-wide transition to a healthy, sustainable, and equitable world. We are at the forefront of mobilizing, engaging, and empowering the health sector to take climate action and lead the change by example.
We work with doctors, nurses, and public health professionals to advocate for healthy people on a healthy planet. We work to support fossil fuel impacted communities’ right to a healthy environment; to call on health institutions to implement climate-smart solutions and for staff to be spokespeople for clean air and a sustainable environment in their cities, states, and nations; and to insist on a just transition to an economy based on clean and renewable energy. The result is an emerging movement composed of a growing number of networks and coalitions of hospitals, health systems, doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.
Whether it’s doctors and leading medical associations advocating for clean air and climate action in India, nurses mobilizing for a healthy climate in Europe and the United States, or a coalition of health professionals and policymakers seeking action on climate in South East Asia, we’re coalescing a powerful network that is part of a growing ecosystem working to protect public health from climate change. Together we can embark on a course to zero-emissions, resilient, and equitable health care.
A SPECTRUM OF ACTION
In addition to our Global Green and Healthy Hospitals Network, Health Care Without Harm leads or co-leads seven health professional networks dedicated to climate education and advocacy.
To expand this ecosystem, we participate in an array of leadership health sector bodies addressing the climate crisis
Our involvement includes:
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Being a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, and collaborating with their global leadership and several national public health associations.
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Being a founding board member of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
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Supporting other organizations addressing the climate crisis as members of the WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate Change.
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Advising the Medical Society Consortium for Climate and Health.
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Collaborating with health care professional organizations worldwide pushing for a healthy COVID-19 recovery by urging government leaders to build back better, stronger and fairer.