The WBGU discussion paper on planetary health identifies ten main topics with underlying key questions, in order to get stakeholders involved in the discussion about shaping our common future. More than 400 participants from the health sector, the scientific community, political organizations, and civil society joined the German online launch on February 2nd, 2022.
In her presentation, Prof. Gabrysch quoted the statements of The Lancet that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, and at the same time, tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of this century. She highlighted that the climate and health crises have common root causes and tackling those roots could be a win-win solution for the people and the planet. ”The crisis provides an opportunity to rethink our idea of prosperity and progress, to break habits and make our societies fairer, more sustainable and healthier”, so Prof. Gabrysch.
During the panel discussion, Prof. Gabrysch, Dr. Catharina Böhme from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Prof. Aletta Bonn from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) discussed this opportunity for health and the great socio-ecological transformation. The systematic interlinkages of climate, health and biodiversity were emphasized as well as the need for pointing out the positive impacts and outcomes of the transformational change ahead.
The panelists as well as other discussants highlighted the importance of strengthening communication about the urgency and complexity of the planetary crises as well as its opportunities, the need to foster preventive health measures on a structural and an individual level and supporting bottom-up transformational approaches as well as transdisciplinary cooperation internationally, nationally and locally.
Feedback on the discussion paper will be incorporated into the WBGU flagship report to be published in 2023.
A video of the event can be found here.
An English version of the discussion paper can be found here.
A video of the international launch in December 2021 can be found here.
