A manifesto for planetary health

Abstract

Richard Horton and colleagues’ manifesto (March 8, p 847)1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar requires nothing less than a global treaty.The call for a collective manifesto to transform global public health, while opportune, is destined not to see the light of day without offering a viable and achievable path forward. Political decision makers with the power to first allow, then persuade and implement such a movement have consistently ignored or denied good science in favour of self-serving economics. The strong appeal for a “powerful social movement based on collective action at every level of society”1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar requires uncompromising action equal to the stated task. Nothing short of a treaty-level global authority for prevention and preparedness is required, one that embodies and operationalises the empirical work of the former Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and of other scientists who have the technical expertise and institutional basis to devise the treaty content and implementation. Although “international treaties will never be entirely fair...they are nonetheless more impressive than the barrage of platitudes that passes for [current] political discourse.”2EditorialThe power of treaties.Nature. 2013; 501: 5Google Scholar Treaties are crucial; nations adhere to their contents while craving international respectability.2EditorialThe power of treaties.Nature. 2013; 501: 5Google ScholarWithout the power of a treaty, the authors of this manifesto1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar will ultimately share collective disappointment.I declare that I have no competing interests. Richard Horton and colleagues’ manifesto (March 8, p 847)1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar requires nothing less than a global treaty. The call for a collective manifesto to transform global public health, while opportune, is destined not to see the light of day without offering a viable and achievable path forward. Political decision makers with the power to first allow, then persuade and implement such a movement have consistently ignored or denied good science in favour of self-serving economics. The strong appeal for a “powerful social movement based on collective action at every level of society”1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar requires uncompromising action equal to the stated task. Nothing short of a treaty-level global authority for prevention and preparedness is required, one that embodies and operationalises the empirical work of the former Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and of other scientists who have the technical expertise and institutional basis to devise the treaty content and implementation. Although “international treaties will never be entirely fair...they are nonetheless more impressive than the barrage of platitudes that passes for [current] political discourse.”2EditorialThe power of treaties.Nature. 2013; 501: 5Google Scholar Treaties are crucial; nations adhere to their contents while craving international respectability.2EditorialThe power of treaties.Nature. 2013; 501: 5Google Scholar Without the power of a treaty, the authors of this manifesto1Horton R Beaglehole R Bonita R Raeburn J McKee M Wall S From public to planetary health: a manifesto.Lancet. 2014; 383: 847Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (176) Google Scholar will ultimately share collective disappointment. I declare that I have no competing interests. From public to planetary health: a manifestoThis manifesto for transforming public health calls for a social movement to support collective public health action at all levels of society—personal, community, national, regional, global, and planetary. Our aim is to respond to the threats we face: threats to human health and wellbeing, threats to the sustainability of our civilisation, and threats to the natural and human-made systems that support us. Our vision is for a planet that nourishes and sustains the diversity of life with which we coexist and on which we depend. Full-Text PDF