Climate, Health & Equity: Toward a Sustainable Future

Climate change is having profound effects on human health and deepening inequalities around the globe.

Warming temperatures are expanding the range of infectious diseases such as malaria. They’re also driving ecosystem shifts that bring humans into closer contact with novel pathogens, raising the risk of future pandemics. Food insecurity is on the rise as well: extreme weather is wiping out crops and livestock, creating new populations of climate refugees vulnerable to hunger, violence, and despair.

But the news is not all grim. We have the tools to understand and mitigate these challenges. And we have seen that smart policies can spur real improvements in health and equity.

This symposium will bring together leading researchers and policy makers to explore the interplay between planetary and public health — with a rigorous focus on solutions. Keynote speaker Heather McTeer Toney, vice president for community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, will end the program with a clarion call for climate justice, as together we work to build a more sustainable future.