Climate change and health: a promising, but yet overlooked, agenda

Last week I co-authored an article about professional opportunities in the field of climate tech at the EIT Campus website , which I shared in this post with a brief personal testimonial about heat waves in Europe. This month, the Nursery School S?o José de Cluny (Madeira island) also launched a new episode of their podcast Experts4ONEHealth about the importance of teaching climate change in Nursing schools worldwide.

The health impacts of climate change are still an overlooked topic. We don't see "Death by Climate Change" in obituaries, but extreme heat killed over 70,000 people only in Europe last year. We discussed the COP28 UAE Declaration On Climate And Health and how health impacts (as a source of emissions and pollution) and is impacted by climate change, using real cases from Brazil and other countries.

Moreover, climate-friendly policies, such as increasing active commute schemes (e.g. biking) and decreasing meat consumption have positive feedback on human health. And on the other hand, the growing impacts of the climate crisis have been affecting people's mental health, above all in children and youth. Therefore, to face the complex challenges we have in areas such as health and environment, it is important to learn from different topics to have a holistic education, understanding how our professional activities affect and are affected by other sectors as part of a rapidly changing system.

And as with all conversations about climate, we couldn't close it without reflecting on the future that lies ahead of us. In fact, we have several futureS to select from, and our actions today will determine if we will change turns towards healthier and greener societies, or regret our inaction in a few years time.

Watch the full podcast below (in Portuguese) and let me know what you think!

And in the meantime, take the opportunity to register for the 11th cohort of the YCL Course (also in Portuguese) and join me and other leading climate practitioners who will share their experience and walk you through the main challenges and opportunities related tot he climate agenda. Powered by Youth Climate Leaders (YCL) , the course has trained over 1.300 people coming from the most diverse backgrounds and sectors.

The next cohort starts on 03 September, so hurry up!