The Faculty of Public Health has recognised climate change and declining planetary health as the greatest threat to human health we currently face. With a new UK Government setting it’s policy agenda and pledging action on climate change, there has never been a more critical time to advocate for meaningful change and to highlight the role that organisations must play in being part of a sustainable future for our planet.
As our revised Climate and Health Strategy and the work of the Faculty’s Sustainable Development and Transport SIGs demonstrate, although our professional workforce is comparatively small, our leadership locally, regionally and nationally has considerable influence.
The Faculty’s Climate and Health Strategy has three strands;
- to support the workforce in developing knowledge and action to tackle climate change,
- to advocate for change internationally, nationally and locally,
- to ensure our own house is in order with an ambition to be a net zero organisation.
This last strand is important – to demonstrate that we practice what we preach. So, what have we done as an organisation? And will sharing our learning help others?
Alongside many other Royal Medical Colleges, faculties and healthcare organisations, the Faculty has joined forces with the UK Health Alliance for Climate Change (UKHACC) to amplify our voice as we make the case for action on climate change and highlight the co-benefits this brings for population health and inequalities.
The Alliance has promoted the UKHACC Commitments, 11 evidence-based actions which will help our organisations achieve net zero.
- Declare a Climate Emergency
- Publish a plan to achieve net zero
- Campaign for action
- Embed sustainability in organisational governance, structure and culture
- Develop a plan for sustainability in your specialist area
- Educate members
- Divest for fossil fuel
- Acknowledge the link between climate change and inequalities
- Develop and implement a sustainable travel policy
- Provide plant-based food at events
- Switch to the green bank account and encourage members to do the same
Earlier this year we took part in the first self-audit of actions against the 11 commitments, the UKHACC Scorecard, to help benchmark where we are and monitor future progress. The Faculty was proud to rank joint first with the RCGP in the first round of the scorecard, with more details on how we met each of the 11 criteria available here.
Since then, the FPH executive agreed to reduce our footprint still further and we have off-set the remaining carbon so are now technically a carbon net zero (even negative) organisation. Furthermore, we have commissioned Carbon Neutral Britain to undertake a baseline footprint assessment, and aim to produce another more accurate decarbonisation plan following this assessment to further offset our residual emissions.
At the Faculty we will continue to deliver on our Climate and Health Strategy and to support other Royal Colleges and cross-system partners to assess and build on their own approaches to sustainability.
We also aim to make sure that the new Government hears from the FPH and its members on the importance of climate biodiversity. For example, we will be engaging with the proposed Climate and Nature Bill which will shortly be passing through parliament.
In addition, we are keen to find case studies of work our members have done to embed climate action in their work, especially as it relates to reducing inequalities or identifying and addressing risks to more vulnerable groups. If you have such examples, please let us know.
We know that many of our Fellows and Members are struggling to prioritise action on climate change, given the huge pressures on their time. Many of us are put off by the seemingly steep cliff of changes needed and even more daunted by the leadership challenge. But a simple approach in small steps is useful; if every organisation up and down the UK embarked on the UKHACC’s ‘11 commitments’ and undertook a self-assessed audit, we are sure we can go a long way to raise awareness and take action to tackle climate change and improve planetary and human health.
We hope that Faculty members will join us in delivering a strong and consistent voice for climate action locally and call for action in your own organisations to follow the UKHACC commitments.
With thanks to Eleanor Roaf and Cat Pinho-Gomes who commented on earlier drafts.
