Climate Chaos and Health

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Climate Chaos and Health

• Jenny Griffiths
• www.healthandsustainability.net

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STRUCTURE OF SESSION

• The Carbon Test in twos
• Presentation
• Group work on action planning
• Visioning what will life be like in a
  not-very-distant two tonne future?

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The situation were in

• Population growth
• 2.5 billion in 1953, 6.7 billion now, 8 billion
  2028, 9 billion 2050
• Rampant materialism in the developed world
• Gross inequalities
• An elite population of 1.2 billion
• Collapsing ecosystems
• The 6th mass extinction of life on earth
• Accelerating climate change

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Climate changeA public health imperative

• Joint statement to health leaders from 19
  organisations
• We believe that climate change is the public
  health challenge of the 21st century and that,
  unless decisive action is taken now, the world
  will face global public health and environmental
  catastrophe.

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Climate change threatens the basic elements of
live

• Access to water
• Food production
• Crop failure human nutrition
• Human movement
• Armed conflict, potentially huge population
  displacement
• More obvious health impacts
• Heat-related problems, worsening air quality,
  flooding and extreme weather events

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Worse than we thought a year ago

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports
  2007
• James Hansen 350 ppm 385 in 2008
• Very close to 2 degrees centigrade of global
  warming
• Major ecosystems begin collapsing
• Threshold for dangerous climate change
• We have 5-10 years to get control

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Health benefits of tackling climate change

• Its all joined up!
• Active travel
• Improved food
• More urban green space
• More insulation in homes
• Reduced material consumption
• For example ...

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Active travel health benefits

• More walking, cycling and less car use reduce
  CO2 emissions
• Lower BP, obesity, heart disease, diabetes,
  osteoporosis and cancer
• Reduce road traffic accidents
• Less air pollution less respiratory disease
• Improve mental well-being

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A low-carbon, healthy diet

• Less processed food (less CO2)
• Less saturated fat, sugar and salt
• Reduce obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes,
  colon and breast cancers
• Less meat and more vegetables
• Reduce CO2 and methane, improve health
• Local food reduce food miles
• Food transportation causes CO2, air pollution,
  congestion and accidents

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Carbon emissions 1

• UK approx. 10 tonnes per capita
• USA 20 tonnes
• China 3-4 tonnes
• India 1 tonne
• World average 4 tonnes
• Need to get down to 2 tonnes

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Carbon emissions 2

• Each of the following is one quarter
• Energy in homes and workplaces
• Transport (car and air especially)
• Food production, transportation and retail
• Consumption of all other goods and services
  (excluding food)
• Half is personal travel and household energy

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NHS carbon emissions

• NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy
• First ever NHS carbon footprint
• 18 million tonnes of CO2 p.a.
• 30 of total public sector emissions
• 22 is building energy use
• 18 is travel (staff, patients, visitors)
• 59 procurement

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WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Be the change you want to see in the world
• Mahatma Gandhi

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YOU can make a real difference

• Own carbon emissions each of the 4 main areas
  20 reduction is easy
• Act in our local community
• Look at Transition Towns ideas
• Get involved with groups
• Community development!
• Join advocacy groups

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Join up the agendas

• Link advice on carbon emissions into health
  programmes concerning
• Obesity
• Healthy eating
• Exercise
• Take the messages into the community within your
  daily work
• Personal advice from health practitioners is
  respected

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Its all joined up contd.

• Mental health promotion and nature
• Healthy schools and eco-schools
• You will have other ideas for making connections

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Sustainable communities

• A community which has available to it locally
  all the essential elements of life, which is
  resilient and which lives within its fair share
  of the earths natural resources

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Get into planning systems

• Work with community groups and with local
  authority planners
• Local food supply
• Accessible public services, food shops and
  recreation
• Green spaces and access to nature
• Public transport, pavements and paths, cycle
  lanes

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Behaviour change

• I will if you will (Sustainable Consumption
  Roundtable Report)
• Fear ...Social norms ... Habit
• No champions, no change
• Discursive social change social exploration of
  new alternatives
• Successful initiatives, e.g. Global Action Plan
  Eco-Teams (groups of households)
• Sustrans personal travel planning

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NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy

• Champions everywhere
• Board level commitment
• Staff group and champions wear the tee-shirt!
• Measurement carbon audits
• Energy, travel and food more important than
  recycling

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Travel planning

• Reduce the need to travel
• Teleconferencing and videoconferencing to become
  the norm
• Low-carbon travel
• Real achievements at several Trusts, e.g.
  Addenbrookes, Plymouth NHS Trust
• Sharing cars

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Shout about your achievements

• Society expects the NHS and local government to
  lead the way
• Corporate social responsibility
• Carbon governance alongside financial and
  clinical governance
• Carbon-proof policies
• Cross-cutting issue like equalities and diversity
• Include in all documents, annual report

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Advocacy

• Copenhagen end 2009 UN Framework Convention on
  Climate Change
• Health groups
• Climate and Health Council
• UK Public Health Association
• Health and Sustainability Network
• WWF, Greenpeace etc.

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Conclusion

• A healthy, sustainable, low-carbon future is the
  only future there is
• We have little time to prevent unmanageable
  climate change
• Sustainable development is about the determinants
  of health
• THIS IS CORE BUSINESS