(upbeat music)
- I used to see black spots on the lungs of mostly smokers.
Over the last decade or so,
I saw a series of teenagers
with black dots on the lung.
And I thought to myself,
"Oh my god, what's happening?"
- What could be causing this epidemic of lung disease?
The answer it turned out, was in the air.
- In India, the bulk of pollution comes from crop burning,
garbage being burned, vehicular pollution and industry,
which releases tons and tons of toxic smoke into the air.
I have seen it with my own eyes.
We need to do something about it.
- Fossil fuel combustion is a main cause
of air pollution in India and around the world.
It's also the biggest driver of climate change.
- The bushfire experience across Australia
was an extraordinary experience.
We had weeks and months in some places
of hazardous air pollution and air quality.
Some thousands of people were in hospital
with heart disease and arrhythmia,
they had heart attacks and strokes.
We know that lung infections and pneumonia
is made more likely by exposure to air pollution
of that nature. (helicopter engine revving)
- Health professionals are realizing that climate change
is one of the greatest health threats of the 21st century.
- Climate change is fundamentally a public health issue.
We know from ample evidence that we are in a critical moment
when it comes to climate action.
And unfortunately, the healthcare sector
both in the U.S and around the world
is a huge contributor to global greenhouse
gas emissions, and climate change.
- If healthcare was a country, it would be the fifth largest
climate polluter on the planet.
And if we're gonna protect people's health
from climate change,
we need to move away from fossil fuels.
The sector needs to take action
to reduce its own emissions.
- These are doctors from all around the world
tackling climate change as a public health crisis,
while also bringing sustainable practices
to a major contributor to climate change - healthcare.
(ambient instrumental music)
(indistinct chattering)
- I do get asked sometimes,
why would a pediatrician be involved in climate action?
I feel that it is my duty to think about
what are the factors outside of my clinic
that really are contributing to my patient's well being?
If the operations of healthcare delivery are doing harm,
that seems completely antithetical to the oath that I took.
- What we need to do is really,
reinvent health care in the 21st century.
Overall, the biggest source
of health care's climate footprint
is the sector's use of fossil fuels,
whether it's burning fossil fuels on site to produce energy,
whether it's buying energy produced by coal, oil, and gas,
or whether it's in the supply chain,
which is a huge part of health care's footprint.
- What's shifted for me in the last year or two,
has been the profound recognition
that climate change affects us now.
If we were better at addressing disease
before it gets to the point where people end up in hospital,
then we can significantly decrease the carbon footprint.
We need to be proactive in taking that longer term view.
- When health care providers realize
that their actions and the sector that they work for
is actually contributing to the burden of disease,
they're ready to take action. (upbeat music)
- The whole debate about climate change
is live in our community.
There has been a central commitment
that the NHS will meet net zero by 2050.
We employ around 1.7 million staff,
I think we're the fifth biggest employer in the world.
We're responsible for about 5%
of the U.K's carbon emissions.
At Newcastle Hospitals, we now recycle 43%
of our non clinical waste.
60% of our staff come into work
using sustainable modes of travel,
and we've banned use of diesel and petrol cars in our fleet.
- Doctors, nurses, hospitals, and health systems
in more than 70 countries have joined together
with the international network Health Care Without Harm
to build a global movement for sustainable
and equitable health care
for clean air and for a healthy climate.
(ambient instrumental music)
- If we look at this health and climate change dynamic,
we see hope.
We see hope because individual action
makes a difference to your health and well being.
- So the first step to solution is to become aware,
awaken, and then only the action will come.
- Health professionals today who are interested
in climate action have so many opportunities
to get involved,
that relate to energy efficiency, clean energy,
sustainable purchasing, healthier foods.
We're very powerful as exemplars for our patients.
- Two of the greatest health threats of the 21st century
are climate change and the global pandemic
and we've got one on top of the other.
- I am optimistic that if we can contend
with one threat at the moment,
we can probably contend with a whole series
of threats at the moment,
with some most extraordinary time
to be imagining the human future.
- If you want to have healthy people,
you need to have a healthy planet.
(upbeat music)
- For more on how health professionals are advocating
for a healthy planet, and what you can do,
please visit healthforclimate.org.
(upbeat music continues)