Planetary health is public health

Damage to the Earth’s ecosystem resulting from human activity is not just an environmental problem, it’s a threat to human health. In a new article, Sam Myers, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and co-author Howard Frumkin, propose a “planetary health” framework for thinking about these challenges. This approach looks for policy solutions that have positive effects on both planet and people—for example, encouraging the use of transportation systems such as biking that don’t emit greenhouse gases.

The article was published online September 13, 2017 as part of the Huffington Post’s The Agenda 2020.

“While human health is now, by most metrics, better than it’s ever been, ongoing planetary changes threaten to reverse that progress,” the authors write. Taking a planetary health approach involves looking to disciplines not always associated with health, such as architecture and urban planning. “Ultimately, if the insights of planetary health are going to yield their full benefits, it will fall to policymakers to think big—to see the connections among issues such as natural resource management, energy, agriculture and urban development, and to place human health and well-being at the center of their decisions.”

Read Politico article: Health at a Planetary Scale