Healthy Planet Research Articles

Editorial: Healthy planet, healthy people

Mostly this journal places the spotlight on water, waste, and sanitation issues as they affect local households, communities, and individual nations. Naturally this local focus is set within the framework of international goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the human rights to water and sanitation. But rarely do we step back and consider the impact, relevance, and imperatives posed by wider global issues.

Towards a theory of just transition: A neo-Gramscian understanding of how to shift development pathways to zero poverty and zero carbon

As a global community, we need to understand better how a just transition can shift development paths to achieve net zero emissions and eliminate poverty. Our past development trajectories have led to high emissions, persistent inequality and a world that is fragmented across multiple contradictions. How can countries shift to development pathways that deliver zero poverty and zero carbon? In developing a theory of just transition, the article begins by reviewing a range of theoretical approaches from different traditions, building in particular on neo-Gramscian approaches. It applies and modifies core components of Gramsci’s approach, building a neo-Gramscian theory of just transitions around concepts of ideology, hegemony, change agents and fundamental conditions. The theory suggests how coalitions of change agents can come together behind a just transition. The coalition needs to gain broader support, establish a new cultural hegemony in support of just transitions and be able to transform the fundamental conditions of the 21st century. The article briefly considers how this better understanding can be applied to the practice of shifting development pathways. The penultimate section reflects on limitations, including that a fuller development of a theory of just transition will require application for detailed concrete examples and a community effort. Together, we might address the multiple challenges of our present conditions to transition to development that enables human flourishing and a healthy planet.

Towards Healthy Planet Diets—A Transdisciplinary Approach to Food Sustainability Challenges

The future of food is one of the major world-wide challenges. In this perspective paper, we set-up a framework for a multi-disciplinary future food systems approach, building on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We hereby combine a truly sustainable approach including social science aspects combined with the One Health approach. Scientists from a large number of backgrounds have addressed four key areas that are discussed in more detail in this paper: (i) nature inspired food production, (ii) sustainable immune resilience, (iii) social and cultural change of food behavior, and (iv) food fairness. We believe that transformations to integrated future food system approaches should move beyond single solutions and can only be solved by working in transdisciplinary settings of science, society, and industry.

J.Sachs, G.Schmidt‐Traub, C.Kroll, G.Lafortune, G.Fuller, F.WoelmThe Sustainable Development Goals and COVID‐19. Sustainable Development Report 2020Cambridge University Press, 2020. 510 p.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 to “end poverty and set the world on a path of peace prosperity and opportunity for all on a healthy planet” by 2030. This ambitious framework includes 17 goals (e.g., no poverty, zero hunger, good health, quality education, etc.) with 169 targets and 231 unique indicators. The SDGs have been widely adopted to guide policy makers in development efforts around the world, but they also have been criticized as too unwieldy and all-encompassing. The Economist (March 26, 2015) concluded that the “SDGs are unfeasibly expensive” and “are so sprawling and misconceived that the entire enterprise is being set up to fail.” Nevertheless, the SDGs are now an integral part of the global development movement and are often cited by advocates of specific interventions. The Sustainable Development Report 2020 (SDR2020) was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Bertelsmann Stiftung. It is separate from the The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020 published by the UN. The project is directed by Jeffry Sachs, who was an advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban-Ki Moon in the creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and SDGs. As in previous years, the SDR2020 presents and aggregates data from all UN member states to describe each country's progress towards achieving the SDGs and indicates areas requiring faster progress. Estimates of indicators rely on the most up-to-date data from variety of official and nonofficial sources. In order to summarize levels and trends in country performance, the report calculates indices for each SDG with a scale from 0 to 100 (worst to best). A country's overall SDG Index score and its scores on individual SDGs can be interpreted as a percentage of optimal performance. The overall SDG index score ranges from a high of 84.7 in Sweden to a low of 38.5 in Central African Republic. The report's central chapter summarizes global and regional trends in index scores, and appendix tables present two-page summaries of levels and trends for SDG indicators for each country. Besides struggling with a range of methodological issues, the authors faced the difficult task of succinctly summarizing a very large set of data (115 SDGs indicators for 193 countries). Unfortunately, there are few general findings, because the degree of progress towards achieving the SDGs depends on (i) country/region, (ii) the specific SDG, and (iii) level or trend. On average, progress since 2015 has been fastest in low- and middle-income countries especially in East and South Asia. Africa scores low but showed significant improvements in a number of SDGs. OECD countries, which have on average the highest scores, made only limited progress. The report provides a valuable but rather brief summary of these regional differences. A second objective of SDR2020 is to review policy efforts to implement the SDGs. This assessment is based on information gathered in new expert and public opinion surveys to gauge political leadership in support of the SDGs at the country level. Results confirm that the SDGs framework is increasingly used at many national and international statistical institutes and other data providers. The adoption of the SDG framework by policy makers is growing but more limited. The report's clear exposition in graphs and tables and the many country and regional statistics will no doubt be appreciated by policy makers and researchers in national and international organizations. However, the value of the findings is somewhat limited by the lack of current data for many indicators. As the authors discovered, most estimates are not up to date and a substantial proportion of the data points available now even have a year of reference that predates the adoption of the SDGs. This diminishes the value of publishing country-level estimates on an annual basis, as indicators for many countries change little from one year to the next. The report was in preparation when the Covid-19 epidemic struck. A brief discussion of this huge new human and economic crisis is included, and the authors identify which SDGs will likely be most heavily affected. The epidemic will cause massive disruption of progress on the SDGs for years to come, but it was too early to assess this damage at the time of the publication of the report (July 2020).

Legal and human rights-based approaches to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

IssueMalnutrition in all its forms poses daunting challenges to global health and development. The agriculture sector is a significant contributor to global warming. COVID-19 has pushed many people into poverty, including food poverty. A radical rethink of business models, food systems, civil society involvement, and national and international governance is required to address the interlinked crises of COVID-19, obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. International human rights law, institutions and mechanisms provide important opportunities for norm setting, advocacy and accountability. Yet these pathways are under-utilised by both governments and civil society.DescriptionThe global AIDS response demonstrated the power of a human rights-based approach. United Nations' HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Guidelines greatly influenced the global consensus for effective, evidence-based approaches. The Guidelines also informed resolutions of the UN General Assembly and its Human Rights Council, contributing to more affordable medicines, an unprecedented increase in people on treatment, less stigmatising health services, the empowerment of marginalised groups, and the institutionalisation of norms, including “no one left behind.” Human rights-based approaches have also been successfully utilised in tobacco control.ResultsIn 2019, 180 experts from 38 countries published an open call on WHO and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to initiate an inclusive process to develop guidelines on human rights, healthy diets and sustainable food systems. Most signatories were from the health and development sectors, demonstrating the increasingly broad interest in using human rights mechanisms to address global health challenges.LessonsOpportunities exist to transform food systems and create healthier food environments and a healthier planet by clarifying existing international obligations to progressively realise the right to food and the right to health.Key messages Market forces, alone, are failing to deliver healthy diets and sustainable food systems. International legal frameworks and accountability mechanisms provide opportunities for engagement and action.Human rights guidelines can help mobilize multisectoral action, strengthen State and private sector accountability, and deepen community engagement in the urgent task of achieving Agenda 2030.

What in the world is happening? The numbers behind environmental health

Abstract Background Climate change has made many headlines in the last few years. Because it threatens clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply, and safe shelter, it can have a negative impact on health and undermine any progress on development. The price of inaction is high and the Sustainable Development Goals are a global effort to avoid it. However, Public Health must become a more active player to create greener services to serve a healthier world. Objective This presentation aims to provide a historical overview on the evolution of climate change, what we actually know about it, what is its impact on health and the need for green health services. Results Human activity since the mid-20th century has largely contributed to rapid climate change, including a rise in average surface temperature (0,9 degrees Celsius), most of which occurred in the past 35 years, and subsequent rise on other extreme events, such as intense rainfalls. Estimations make it that, by 2030, climate change will increase not only the number of deaths by malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress, but also the direct damage costs to health to USD 2-4 billion per year. This not only adds vulnerability to already fragile countries, but also compromises the Sustainable Development Goals. Along that, the healthcare sector is playing a role on generating millions of tons of waste, some of which is toxic, contributing to loss of global habitat and biodiversity and the impairment of the health of the world's ecosystem. Conclusions There is enough evidence-based data to support que need for relevant policies or innovative programmes that, besides implementing and advocating for better public health and health systems in each country, can also contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, namely goals number 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13, and a healthy planet to go along with healthy people.

Health is everyonés business - private sector partnerships for a healthy planet and healthy people

Abstract It is clear that we need to accelerate transformational change to address complex and inter-connected global challenges such the climate crisis, growing populations and the NCD pandemic. The private sector has a leading role to play in providing equitable and sustainable access to key determinants of health and well-being, including clean water, clean air, healthy and nutritious food and affordable and quality healthcare. Charlotte Ersbøll will argue that when businesses unite with other partners, they can be a powerful force for good. She will present examples of UN Global Compact initiatives convening businesses, UN, academia and civil society partners to set a new agenda for planetary health in business, such as the platform “Putting a Human Face to Climate Change” which helps businesses understand where they have the greatest potential impact and can best deliver science-based co-benefits for climate, food systems and health. Panelists: Guy Fones Secretariat of the GCM/NCD, Office of the Deputy Director-General, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland Contact: fonesg@who.int Margot Neveux World Obesity Federation, London, UK Contact: mneveux@worldobesity.org Filippo Addarii PlusValue, London, UK Contact: filippo.addarii@plusvalue.org

Action against environmental pollution through a healthy, green and just recovery in Europe

IssueWith the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union (EU) is faced with an unprecedented crisis with huge effects on every aspect of our society. As European countries start easing lockdowns, discussions on recovery and investment plans pick up the pace, but it will be vital not to repeat mistakes of the past but focus on a healthy, green and just recovery to increase overall health preparedness and resilience in the face of future pandemics.Description of the problemThe recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is the litmus test how serious policy-makers are about the EGD, if they take it as the blueprint for rebuilding or continue investing into yesterday's polluting industries and economies. While at EU level there is a strong commitment for the EGD to be the principle in economic recovery, decisions and bailouts at national level do not necessarily follow suit (yet). One of the actions that are needed is defining conditions for all recovery and investment money being spent.ResultsWith EU Commission President's van der Leyen's proposal for a 750 billion EUR recovery fund was presented end of May (1). The European Green Deal (EGD) proposal (2) shows that European Commission has understood the importance of a healthy planet for healthy people. If successfully implemented, this deal has the potential to achieve major health improvements in the near term while reducing the growing health risks from climate change (3,4), air and chemical pollution.LessonsShifting from a polluting to a green and healthy economy, with the European Green Deal at the core is possible. The EGD already foresees a zero pollution ambition for the EU: preventing all pollution in order to protect health is the much needed goal upon which European and national leaders must base all recovery actions.Key messages A green recovery can give the necessary financial support for upgrading and modernising our cities and sustainable urban planning.Through the imminent recovery decisions, policy-makers need to seize the historic opportunity to reduce the pressure on the planet’s and people’s health.

Will the COVID-19 crisis trigger a One Health coming-of-age?

Will the COVID-19 crisis trigger a One Health coming-of-age?

A (Deleuzian) posthumanist paradigm for tourism research

Posthumanistic inquiry is young and offers new ways to understand critical and ethical relationships, bringing new axiological perspectives to current debates around travel, mobilities and (post)modernist conceptualizations of tourism. This research note introduces a Deleuzian posthumanism paradigm with ontological, epistemological and methodological directions to approach tourism research from a non-dualist perspective. French philosopher Gilles Deleuze offers a postdualist, process-oriented ontology of difference that is vital to create radical new tourism knowledge, and avoid indefensible 'either-or' binaries in research and praxis. The Deleuzian research paradigm we forward eschews anthropocentric premises and modernist traditions for a situated, immanent style of encounter and relational being with human and non-human others that is vital for a healthy planet and justice in the Anthropocene.

After COVID-19, a future for the world's children?

After COVID-19, a future for the world's children?

O9 Food Systems, Climate Change, and Food Waste: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Among Middle School Students

Background The food system including food waste is a major contributor to climate change and driven largely by consumers. Attitudes and beliefs about food and the environment influence consumer eating and wasting behaviors. Objective To provide baseline data on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of middle school students regarding topics of the food system, climate change, and food waste prior to beginning a food systems education intervention. Study Design The data was collected at baseline using a validated student survey and is part of a larger non-randomized cluster controlled trial, Healthy Planet, Healthy Youth. This nutrition education intervention consists of a food system curriculum designed to inform students of the food system and environment to change beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge related to food, the environment, and waste habits. Setting Two public middle schools in central Illinois Participants Sixth-grade students part of the Advancement by Individual Determination (AVID) Program (n = 68, ages 10-12 years). Measurable Outcome/Analysis Student's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the food system, food waste, climate change, stewardship, and an underpinning of the Self Determination Theory: relatedness, were measured. Descriptive statistics were run using survey results and participant demographics. Results The majority of students find themselves throwing away their uneaten food from school lunch (60%) versus when they eat at a restaurant (8%). Likewise, students are more inclined to share or save unwanted food if it is from a restaurant (75%) than if it is from school lunch (19%). Students who identified as White had significantly higher knowledge scores on climate change and a combined knowledge related to farming, natural resources, and food waste, transportation, and processing. They also had significantly higher stewardship scores. Conclusion Students conserve food differently based on their dining setting. Gaps in knowledge and beliefs about the environment and food system exist across race. Funding None.

We Need to Plant More Trees for a Healthier Planet!

We Need to Plant More Trees for a Healthier Planet!

Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries

Global agriculture puts heavy pressure on planetary boundaries, posing the challenge to achieve future food security without compromising Earth system resilience. On the basis of process-detailed, spatially explicit representation of four interlinked planetary boundaries (biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, nitrogen flows) and agricultural systems in an internally consistent model framework, we here show that almost half of current global food production depends on planetary boundary transgressions. Hotspot regions, mainly in Asia, even face simultaneous transgression of multiple underlying local boundaries. If these boundaries were strictly respected, the present food system could provide a balanced diet (2,355 kcal per capita per day) for 3.4 billion people only. However, as we also demonstrate, transformation towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns could support 10.2 billion people within the planetary boundaries analysed. Key prerequisites are spatially redistributed cropland, improved water–nutrient management, food waste reduction and dietary changes. Agriculture transforms the Earth and risks crossing thresholds for a healthy planet. This study finds almost half of current food production crosses such boundaries, as for freshwater use, but that transformation towards more sustainable production and consumption could support 10.2 billion people.

Psiche e ambiente. La prospettiva junghiana a confronto con una realtà in profonda trasformazione

La psiche è un sistema aperto e complesso che vive di interconnessioni, in dialogo continuo tra sé, l'altro e l'ambiente. La salute e il benessere della psiche dipendono da queste interrelazioni, come la salute e il benessere dell'essere umano dipendono dalla possibilità di vivere in un pianeta sano, dalla consapevolezza di essere una forma vivente che respira, si nutre e cammina su un pianeta vivente. Psiche e ambiente dialogano in questa conferenza internazionale che ospita come relatore il President Elect IAAP Toshio Kawai nell'incontro con AIPA, CIPA e ARPA.

Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet

Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet

Future Food: Sustainable Diets for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet

AbstractThe current food system is associated with poor health outcomes, food insecurity, and significant environmental damage. While, globally, more than enough food calories are produced than theoretically needed, this does not guaranty a good quality diet for all. At the same time, the environmental pressures of the current food system threaten several planetary boundaries, which define the environmental limits within which humans can safely operate. This narrative review gives a brief overview of the shortcomings of the current food system regarding its impact on nutrition, health, and the environment. It outlines recent advancements in the development of guidelines for a healthy and sustainable diet and discusses options on how to realize such a dietary transformation, involving all stakeholders in the food value chain.

In Nightingale's Footsteps-Individual to Global: From Nurse Coaches to Environmental and Civil Society Activists.

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the famous "lady with the lamp," is indeed the world's most well-known nurse. In our times, now for nearly six decades, the same environmental and social issues that were of concern to Nightingale are understood as key factors in achieving global development and global health. In Nightingale's footsteps, Nurse Coach leaders and all nurses are 21st century Nightingales who are coaching, informing, and educating for healthy people to be living on a healthy planet.

The Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet. By Paul Greenberg. New York, USA: Penguin Press, 2018, 304 pp. ISBN 9781594206344.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsThe Omega Principle: Seafood and the Quest for a Long Life and a Healthier Planet. By Paul Greenberg. New York, USA: Penguin Press, 2018, 304 pp. ISBN 9781594206344.Dadi KristoferssonDadi KristoferssonDepartment of Economics, University of Iceland, Iceland Search for more articles by this author Department of Economics, University of Iceland, IcelandPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Marine Resource Economics Volume 34, Number 3July 2019 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/703685 Views: 38Total views on this site HistoryPublished online April 26, 2019Received March 26, 2019 © 2019 MRE Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Understanding Prosperity in East London: Local Meanings and “Sticky” Measures of the Good Life

AbstractThe UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been conceived as a global roadmap for peace, dignity, and prosperity on a healthy planet (UNDP 2016). The SDGs challenge the dominant notion of prosperity as material wealth measured by GDP and rising household incomes; instead prosperity is reframed as a shared condition to be weighed alongside ending poverty, tackling inequalities, and safeguarding the environment. Cities are identified as having a critical role in generating and equitably distributing prosperity on these terms. Reframing prosperity in this way opens up space for new forms of dialogue about what it means for people everywhere to prosper, asking how material wealth, other forms of value, equity, and fairness, and the needs of humans and nonhumans are differentially understood and acted on. Yet this article argues that prosperity is understudied and undertheorized by social scientists. A new research agenda, driven by empirical studies in diverse urban contexts, must form the basis for new theoretical insights and policy formation that will drive action on prosperity in the years to come. Presenting new empirical work from community‐led research in three east London neighborhoods, the article examines prosperity as a lived experience in comparison to policy goal, demonstrating how context‐specific meanings and practices challenge the orthodox models and metrics that currently dominate policymaking. The authors demonstrate how situated and engaged research with local residents and citizen scientists provides the basis for developing new prosperity metrics that reflect issues of specific value and concern to individuals and communities in east London.