Climate and health – let’s talk about collaboration

The threat to planetary health has never been greater, according to Paul van Zyl, Co-Founder & CEO at The Conduit, speaking during London Climate Action Week. On the one hand, he urged for there to be greater collaboration across stakeholder groups, and for there to be more durable solutions to the predicament in which the planet and its communities find themselves; on the other he acknowledged the difficulty in finding solutions because of the backlash due to declining standards of living across economies. He said that this conundrum means we should design solutions that are not too abstract or difficult to implement.

Concurring with van Zyl, Alan Dangour, Director of Climate & Health at Wellcome Trust, said that collaboration is key. He pointed out that we have the science (albeit that it is not always easy for boardrooms to digest), and we know what we must act on, and yet we are not getting things done. While there are plenty of visual cues that we must both do business and live differently – record heat, worrying dry spells, wildfires are again in the headlines – where are those pathways from problems to actions and solutions? And do boards have the tools to integrate climate-related health impacts into business strategy, or is the science still too raw to make that bridge from problems to solutions?

The concept of collaboration provides a useful framework for thinking about the next stage. Collaboration is the language not only of policymakers but also of business. If there is a community that truly understands how collaboration brings positive consequences beyond the sum of its parts, it’s the corporate world, led by boards with a fiduciary duty to govern long-term strategy and set the business agenda.

From agreeing common objectives, to setting and participating in governance structures, to adopting all the management tools that have gained traction in recent decades, boards know how to collaborate both within and across businesses, and across numerous stakeholder groups.

As Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Sunway University Malaysia, pointed out, the crisis today is about inaction, not science. So, if collaboration delivers a way for businesses to think about the looming climate-related health issues they are about to face, let’s think about what this collaboration might look like, who would be in the room, what would their roles be, what would be the objectives of this collaboration and how would it be governed?

These are early days for this extra health-related dimension to the climate conversation. Dr Jemilah, commenting on the science, said that while evidence of climate-related health impacts is essential, it all needs translating for business, and the link with economics must be made for there to be action. She added that climate delay has become the new climate denial, that we need to move from informing to mobilising and, importantly, she stressed that behaviour change is the missing link.

Partly, behaviour change will result from identifying leaders to demonstrate solutions to the climate/health nexus. Just as we search for those boardroom luminaries of climate action generally, so too will we need leading lights in the climate/health space that can shine a light on the looming consequences of climate on health before they destabilise global systems.

The situation is increasingly urgent. In the absence of action, Dr Jemilah asked how our health systems will cope as climate impacts take hold on populations, workforces and boardrooms themselves. In her view, health is central to how we address climate change, and that planetary health should be at the centre of all decision-making.

It’s a question of resilience. Business models and the people that both set and operationalise business strategy are being challenged by the road ahead – not just health systems – and without resilience whole systems are in danger of failure.

Ultimately, the cost of inaction in relation to climate-related health impacts will be huge – a message equally valid in relation to climate action generally.