Planetary health refers to "the health of human civilization and the state of the natural systems on which it depends". In 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation and The Lancet launched the concept as the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.
What is Planetary health?[edit | edit source]
Drawing from the definition of health – "a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" - as well as principles articulated in the preamble of the constitution of the World Health Organization, the report elaborated that planetary health refers to the "achievement of the highest attainable standard of health, wellbeing, and equity worldwide through judicious attention to the human systems – political, economic, and social – that shape the future of humanity and the Earth's natural systems that define the safe environmental limits within which humanity can flourish."
Governance and stewardship[edit | edit source]
Planetary health concerns itself with governance and stewardship which pose a threat to the sustainability of the human civilization, environment, and planet. Specifically, it seeks to confront three main types of challenges: "imagination challenges", such as failing to account for long-term human or environmental consequences of human progress; "research and information challenges", such as underfunding and lack of scope in research; and "governance challenges", such as delayed environmental action by governing bodies determined by unwillingness, uncertainty, or non-cooperation.
Cooperation[edit | edit source]
A primary ethical focus of planetary health research is human cooperation and non-cooperation in the form of conflict, nationalism, and competition. As one goal, the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change plans to use an accountability mechanism to track human cooperation and study the link between health, climate, and political action. W
Nutrition and diet[edit | edit source]
Likewise, nutrition and diet are important contributors to and indicators of planetary health. Scientists speculate that human population growth threatens the carrying capacity of the planet. Diets, agriculture, and technology must adjust to sustain population projections upwards of 9 billion while reducing harmful consequences on the environment through food waste and carbon-intensive diets. A focus of planetary health research will be nutritional solutions that are sustainable for the human species and the environment, and the generation of scientific research and political will to create and implement desired solutions. In January 2019, an international commission created the planetary health diet. W
Further solutions[edit | edit source]
Planetary health aims to seek out further solutions to global human and environmental sustainability through collaboration and research across all sectors, including the economy, energy, agriculture, water, and health. Biodiversity loss, exposure to pollutants, climate change, and fuel consumption are all issues that threaten human and climate health alike, and are, as such, foci of the field. A number of researchers think that it is actually humanity's destruction of biodiversity and the invasion of wild landscapes that creates the conditions for malaria, and new diseases such as COVID-19. W
Resources[edit | edit source]
Networks[edit | edit source]
- Planetary Health Alliance, added 16:25, 20 January 2022 (UTC)
Video[edit | edit source]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Health and wellbeing, News
- Quality of life
- Sustainable well-being
- Health UK
- Arts, sport and culture
- Cycling, sustainable community action
- Environment quality
- Food, sustainable community action
- Networks, Networks, news and comment
- Open spaces
- Social inclusion
- Trees, woodland and forest
In a way all CASwiki topics are about community wellbeing local information can be found, or shared, via our many location pages
External links[edit | edit source]
- Wikipedia:Planetary health diet, Health, Ecopsychology, Green exercise, Green Gym, Health impact assessment, Environmental justice, Transnational movement networks