What is Planetary Health?

The Earth crisis is an urgent threat to humanity as well as the rest of life on Earth. We now understand that problems that have been framed for decades as “environmental” problems—climate change; biodiversity loss; pollution of air, water, and soil; terrestrial and marine system degradation—are, in fact, driving global health and humanitarian crises. 

Human activities surpass our planet’s capacity to absorb our waste or provide enough resources for current demand. The way people live is driving changes to earth systems and the living world at rates that are much steeper than have existed in the history of our species. And these changes are now threatening every dimension of human health and wellbeing as illustrated in the figure below. 

The harms associated with global environmental change do not fall upon all people equally. Activities that degrade Earth’s natural systems tend to benefit the privileged, while the world’s poorest people, Indigenous Peoples, people of color, and future generations disproportionately bear the associated health burdens. As such, equity and justice concerns form a cornerstone for the exploration of global environmental changes and health at every scale from local to global.  

Safeguarding a livable future for humanity and the rest of life on Earth will require rapid structural shifts in how humanity lives—a Great Transition across energy systems, food systems, manufacturing, and the built environment, requiring technological innovation and engagement of the private sector. It will require new forms of governance and policymaking from local to planetary scale and effective communication to build an activated global constituency. It will also require insights from the arts and humanities to help heal fractured relationships between people and Nature, between the wealthy and poor, and between present and future generations. Everyone from every sector has something to contribute to this effort. Learn More