According to the celebrated astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, we might need to colonize a new planet within a hundred years if our species is to survive. As Professor Hawking puts it, “with climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious.”
More than economics, physics or natural sciences, this call alerts us to vital ethical issues related to the way we inhabit our unique planet.
Would it be possible to imagine a world in which we will no longer declare war against nature and hence against ourselves? While the answer is a complex one, such a question reminds us that a radical change is needed in the way we perceive our existence and development goals in a place with finite resources. This article explores the notion of planetary health, an attempt to reconcile nature and human health more harmoniously and strategically.
Our growing precarious relationship to our planet
With tropical deforestation, overexploited fisheries, unrelenting urban grown, rising demand for energy, and scarce lands for agriculture, this planet risks becoming unlivable. But it does not have to be this way. If we activate partnerships, then we stand a chance to enliven our sense of empathy, and invest in nature-based solutions to our modern problems. The nexus between energy, food, urban design, investments in sustainable rural land use areas and health are key themes to start with. We quickly forget that obesity in the US, for example, is ranked a number one epidemic. How can we allow this to happen in one of the most developed nations? Smart urban design that encourages active citizens (walking and cycling) is a win-win situation. It is good both for the environment and our health. Cities should be designed for people, not cars!
We must remind ourselves we are not separate entities from nature, as if we weren’t a product of the same evolutionary process as all life on Earth. Planetary health is a new scientific paradigm showing that our health is directly dependent on the proper functioning and diversity of the biosphere. It asserts that our planet has some safe operating boundaries that, if breached, could diminish our survival conditions. However, most importantly, it does not belong to scientists alone. This is because a central aspiration of this approach is to value the role of local communities’ knowledge and citizens’ engagement into decision-making that affects sustainability. Participatory education is thus a fundamental element to truly advance planetary health beyond academic journals.
Why do we need to embrace planetary health sooner than later?
There are at least three pressing reasons why we need to think holistically and join hands to spread the notion of planetary health. First, time is not on our side; our knowledge is! Evidently, the work ahead won’t be easy, but planetary health is an attempt to prove that investing in nature will bring solutions that are good for nature, economy and people. It is simply the logical thing to do.
Second, planetary health is about “speaking truth to power!” Leaders without long-term vision often disregard environmental goals. With the recent attacks to the climate agenda and environmental institutions in the US following the election of President Trump, we must recall that our health cannot pay a toll. Moreover, it’s naïve to perceive economic goals separately from environmental protection. According to science, there is no reason to delay action on several fronts on environmental soundness, if we are serious about a sustainable economic growth and health promotion. For example, while many cities have managed to improve their air quality, it remains a relevant challenge in many urban and rural areas, mainly due to burning of vegetative material and fossil fuels emissions, which account for around 75 per cent of the global emissions causing climate change. More than 7 million people die annually from air pollution. The promotion of a low-carbon future has become a matter of human rights. Nowadays the simple act of breathing has become dangerous not only in Beijing, Delhi and Kathmandu, but also in London. Why do we keep funding the wrong industries through perverse subsidies? Clean energy must be a priority for all nations.
Third, planetary health is about social justice. It is no longer an affair of only environmental and health scientists. In fact, it is only by engaging multiple actors that we will achieve a more holistic and preventive approach to public health and environmental conservation. Market economies have powerful tools to bring progress. However, it seems that we are becoming a market society in which the misuse of technology, greed and human shortsightedness are disconnecting us from nature in an unsafe way.
Above all, sustainability is a matter of ethics within and between generations. When we design public policies, a central question constantly missing from the equation is: who benefits? This point reminds us of the importance of functional institutions and governance for the implementation of sustainable development policies.
Earth’s health and human health are inseparable
Nature is all about fluidity and being adaptive. Despite our attempt to become a dominant force, human life and the biosphere are one system. Yet there is sufficient strong evidence that humans are dangerously impacting this fragile interconnectedness. Delaying action will only cost us more in terms of resources and lives, if not annihilating our existence. Sustainability can no longer be perceived a “nice to have” but must be understood as a vital element of strategies to achieve prosperity. Reducing waste, conserving water, saving energy and eating healthily all do good to us and even our pockets.
The planetary health lens deserves to be better integrated into decision making in order to incorporate the true costs of nature into public policy. An interesting question is why can’t we stop focusing more on drug production, a disease-oriented approach to health, and concentrate more on prevention? How about fixing our food system reducing and replacing when possible the use of dangerous chemicals? Kids in developed countries are more and more disconnected from nature. How can we ask our kids to eat healthily if they sometimes do not even know the difference between a potato and a tomato? Scientists, policy makers, educators and engaged citizens must discuss these issues courageously and openly.
Above all, planetary health is a humble but powerful metaphor that is paving the way for a nascent movement that can improve our relationship with our planet. Such a movement expects to “re-ground” us, so to speak, moving us away from some of the dangerous breaching of Earth’s boundaries that so many scientists now envision. Environmental awareness is hence a vigorous method to improve human health. A simple way to be part of this global movement is to become a knowledge broker and advocate for a healthier planet! Finally, planetary health is about securing peace. We have a moral duty to avoid fueling more human misery by safeguarding resources; vital for our existence, such as water and productive soils. We should mobilize every neuron to figure out how we can expand the number of minds engaged in this cause.