Global | “Reaching a tipping point”: Climate a key issue at World Health Assembly

Global | “Reaching a tipping point”: Climate a key issue at World Health Assembly

Almost six months after she helped broker a unanimous agreement among 195 governments in Paris, Christiana Figueres, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, came to the World Health Assembly to urge ministers of health to prioritize climate change. Figueres eloquently argued that “working on climate change is [our] best prevention strategy” and that ministers need to use “the health microphone… [to] translate what climate change actually means for real people.”

In his blog post, Health Care Without Harm’s Josh Karliner discusses how climate …

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Global | Health professionals call on G7 nations to phase out coal

Global | Health professionals call on G7 nations to phase out coal

82 organizations from 30 countries representing more than 300,000 doctors, nurses, and public health professionals and advocates are calling on G7 nations to accelerate the transition away from coal to save lives.

Healthy Energy Initiative partners Health Care Without Harm, the Health and Environment Alliance, and the Climate and Health Alliance, along with the Initiative’s health sector partners in several countries, are among the signatories of the Global Health Statement on Coal Plants.

Dignity Health, ThedaCare, Hackensack University Medical Center, and Seattle Children’s Hospital – members of …

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Global | Health sector appeal to G7 on coal – sign on now!

Global | Health sector appeal to G7 on coal – sign on now!

UPDATE: The Global Health Statement on Coal Plants was launched on May 18th with the signatures of 82 organizations from 30 countries representing more than 300,000 doctors, nurses, and public health professionals and advocates. Read more.

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In anticipation of the upcoming G7 Summit* in Japan on May 26-27, health professionals and health organizations around the world are invited to sign a statement calling on the G7 nations to accelerate the global transition away from coal-fired electricity in order to protect public health from …

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Global | Leading Health Organizations Issue Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

Global | Leading Health Organizations Issue Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

Call for A Global Shift from Fossil Fuels to Clean, Renewable Energy

Health Care Without Harm, together with partners, has issued the Paris Platform for Healthy Energy, calling for a global shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.

The Paris Platform, endorsed by over 40 organisations representing the health sector in more than 80 countries, demonstrates a commitment to leadership and advocacy for clean, renewable, healthy energy choices in order to protect public health from both climate change and local pollution.

“The most important pathway to reducing …

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Philippines | Health Sector Leaders Endorse Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

Philippines | Health Sector Leaders Endorse Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

Photo Courtesy Office of Senator Loren Legarda

Manila, Philippines — Few days after the 2nd anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan and 20 days before the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris this December, health sector leaders from the Philippines called for stronger commitments for climate mitigation by phasing out coal and other fossil fuels and shifting to renewable energy to protect both human health and the global climate.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Asia, together with different health sector organizations and leaders in the Philippines, launched the Paris …

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Global | Health Groups Call for Clean Energy Ahead of Paris Climate Talks

Global | Health Groups Call for Clean Energy Ahead of Paris Climate Talks

Organizations Representing Health Sector in Over 80 Countries Call for Shift from Fossil Fuels to Renewables, Citing Health and Financial Benefits

Health organizations spanning every continent issued a call today to end society’s deadly and costly dependence on fossil fuels. The Paris Platform for Healthy Energy reflects a growing consensus among health professionals and organizations across the globe that shifting to clean, renewable energy will protect public health from both global climate change and the impacts of local pollution.

With the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in …

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Global | HCWH Supports World Medical Association Call to its National Association Members to Discuss Divestment from Fossil Fuels

Global | HCWH Supports World Medical Association Call to its National Association Members to Discuss Divestment from Fossil Fuels

Health Care Without Harm today applauded the unanimous decision by delegates gathered in Moscow this past week at the World Medical Association’s (WMA) Annual General Assembly to call on its more than 100 constituent member associations to consider divestment from fossil fuels.

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Global | Endorse the Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

Global | Endorse the Paris Platform for Healthy Energy

The Paris Platform for Healthy Energy represents the views of an informal collaboration of organizations and individuals in the health sector committed to a transition to clean, renewable, healthy energy in order to protect public health. A project of the Healthy Energy Initiative, the Platform serves as a guiding document — in the lead up to, during, and beyond the 2015 United Nations Climate Conference in Paris — for the health sector’s efforts to mobilize globally and in key countries to advocate for healthy energy.

The lead endorsers of the Platform are Health …

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France | Health experts call on French authorities to prioritize health at COP21

A greater focus on health is needed during the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris this December, according to a joint declaration by the French Public Health Association, the French Society of Environmental Health, and the French Medical Council. The Health and Environment Alliance, Healthy Energy Initiative’s partner in Europe, co-signed the declaration. Underlining the role of health professionals in the prevention of climate-related diseases, the signatories ask the French authorities preparing the climate negotiations to explicitly include health in the final negotiations and commitments of COP21.

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Australia | Unprecedented alliance calls for zero pollution in Australia

In an open letter to all Australian Parliamentarians, an unprecedented alliance of 51 health, environment, legal, aid, union, farming, and religious groups state have called for all parliamentarians to commit to strong emissions reduction targets, stating: “Australia and Australian people stand to lose so much from the impacts of climate change; it is in our national interest to be amongst the leading nations to ensure the world limits warming to well below 2 degrees. A zero carbon pollution future is possible, and it is all of our responsibility to …

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