A call for urgent action to safeguard our planet and our health in line with the helsinki declaration
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: In 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission launched a report introducing a novel approach called Planetary Health and proposed a concept, a strategy and a course of action. To discuss the concept of Planetary Health in the context of Europe, a conference entitled: "Europe That Protects: Safeguarding Our Planet, Safeguarding Our Health" was held in Helsinki in December 2019. The conference participants concluded with a need for action to support Planetary Health during the 2020s. The Helsinki Declaration emphasizes the urgency to act as scientific evidence shows that human activities are causing climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, overuse of natural resources and pollution. They threaten the health and safety of human kind. Global, regional, national, local and individual initiatives are called for and multidisciplinary and multisectorial actions and measures are needed. A framework for an action plan is suggested that can be modified for local needs. Accordingly, a shift from fragmented approaches to policy and practice towards systematic actions will promote human health and health of the planet. Systems thinking will feed into conserving nature and biodiversity, and into halting climate change. The Planetary Health paradigm ‒ the health of human civilization and the state of natural systems on which it depends ‒ must become the driver for all policies.
Source: Environmental Research
Authors: Jaana I. Halonen, Marina Erhola, Eeva Furman, Tari Haahtela, Pekka Jousilahti, Robert Barouki, Åke Bergman, Nils E. Billo, Richard Fuller, Andrew Haines, Manolis Kogevinas, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Kinga Krauze, Timo Lanki, Joana Lobo Vicente, Peter Messerli, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Riikka Paloniemi, Annette Peters, Karl-Heinz Posch, Pekka Timonen, Roel Vermeulen, Suvi M. Virtanen, Jean Bousquet, Josep M. Antó
Institutions: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Päijät-Hämeen Keskussairaala, Finnish Environment Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University Hospital, Inserm, Université Paris Cité, Health and Functional Exposomics, Stockholm University, Örebro University, Pure Earth, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, German Environment Agency, European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, European Environment Agency, University of Bern, Wyss Academy for Nature, Helmholtz Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Austrian Mobility Research, Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht, Tampere University, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere University Hospital, University of Tampere, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Municipal Institute for Medical Research, Hospital del Mar Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
OpenAlex ID: W3112010703