50 organisations and individuals from the German health sector including HEAL are urging the German government to take more decisive action to protect our health from climate change.
The Call’s messages are based on recommendations of the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change from June this year. In October, HEAL presented the Lancet findings in Berlin, with keynote speaker Sir Andy Haines. More information available here.
Many measures of climate action can bring large health co-benefits, especially regarding the prevention of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
The undersigned organisations and individuals issue seven demands to the German government, including to:
- Push for an ambitious global climate deal in Paris as well as provisions to end all fossil fuel subsidies, and instruments which put an appropriate price on CO2 emissions;
- Establish climate and health as a topic of inter-ministerial collaboration and strengthen the capacity of the health sector to work on climate change;
- Develop a national phase-out plan for coal power generation and support global efforts to phase-out coal.
Among the supporters of the Call are the German Medical Students’ Association BVMD which represents more than 80.000 medical students, the association of environmental health specialists Deutscher Berufsverband der Umweltmediziner, the German branches of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War IPPNW as well as Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), the Globalisation and Health Initiative, the Institute of Public Health of Heidelberg University, the association of democratic doctors VDÄÄ and the doctors´ group MEZIS, bringing together several hundreds of doctors, health professionals and health advocates in Germany.
The Call to Action is available here in German.