An exploration of the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment

Abstract

An exploration of the Portuguese council for health and environment Here, Dr. Mónica Rodrigues explores the Portuguese Council for Health and Environment (CPSA) efforts to prevent climate change, promote sustainability, enact a Global Health System Strategy and so much more. There is overwhelming evidence that climate change and ecosystem degradation significantly impact people's health. There is also evidence that these changes are occurring at a rate that is fast approaching irreversibility, threatening the future of humanity. Nevertheless, we also know that the health sector is the 5th largest responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Reversing this threat still seems possible, but it depends on each country, each organisation and each person's decisions in the coming years. Healthcare professionals, as advocates for patients – but also as citizens – have the ethical obligation to be involved in this global wake-up call. The World Health Organization (WHO) and several associations and scientific societies in different countries have already called for this engagement.