ASPPH and ASPHER Release Statements in Response to COP28
ASPPH and ASPHER both released statements supporting the first ever Health Day at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28). Academic public health institutions educate the public health leaders who will be on the front lines of the health crises that are the result of climate change, conduct the research needed to make evidence-based decisions, and collaborate with communities to address current public health issues.
The ASPPH statement calls for:
- Funding research and training programs to support schools and programs of public health
- Strengthening public health systems
- Supporting research on the health impacts of climate change
- Phasing down use of fossil fuels and halting further investment in them
- Investing in research on a just transition to newer energy technologies
The ASPHER statement lays out an action plan:
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- Recognition of the linkage between climate change and health
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- An integrated approach to climate change and health
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- Solidarity across countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while reducing the impacts of climate change on health
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- Reducing the impact of climate change on health inequalities
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- Training and capacity building in climate change and health for multiple stakeholders
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- Well-funded interventional transdisciplinary research on climate change and health
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- Advocacy on climate change and health
Report: From Analysis to Action – Climate change litigation: a guide for PH professionals
From Analysis to Action – Climate change litigation: a guide for PH professionals was a collaborative effort among 11 organizations including GNAPH as well as two of its comprising members – ASPPH and ASPHER – and offers extensive insight into the role of public health experts and scientists required to provide evidence in court pertaining to climate litigation. Written not only for the core public health workforce but also the wider community of health professionals and environmental advocates engaged in climate change litigation, this guide is applicable across differing legal systems and jurisdictions. Specifically, the guide:
- Explains the phenomenon of climate change litigation for public health practitioners and provides an overview of key developments;
- Identifies how the skills required to deliver compelling written and oral scientific evidence of human harms in climate change litigation can be grounded in public health competencies;
- Offers insights and lessons learned from prior climate change litigation, based all or in part on evidence of human harms.
This report, launched at the EUPHA Conference in Dublin in November 2023, has received significant global interest from public health colleagues and organizations globally. With the goal of widely disseminating this valuable work and further advancing the agenda of building ethical legal competence and capacity of public health professionals, GNAPH is proud to share this report and encourages engagement in related upcoming activities.