Climate Change Health Emergency: The Role of Healthcare Professionals

THE IMPACT of climate change is clear, urgent, and formidable, with the effects of climate change on health an immediate threat to patients and populations both now and in the future. The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) shared a series of 10 expert-led presentations on the ‘Health Emergency of Climate Change’ in 2021, with the closing presentation focusing on the role of healthcare professionals in addressing the health impacts of climate change. Linda Luxon, RSM Council Trustee, hosted a discussion between Cheryl Holder, President of the Florida State Medical Association and Co-chair of the Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, USA; David Pencheon, Founding Director of the National Health Service (NHS) Sustainable Development Unit, UK; and Rita Issa, Clinical Research Fellow in Climate Change, Migration and Health at University College London, UK, and Co-founder of Doctors for Extinction Rebellion. Their discussion highlighted the scope of the issue facing healthcare professionals, identifying strategies that can allow clinicians to be advocates for the health of their patients as well as have an impact on wider policy and systems-level changes to address this health emergency.