A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals

An open letter from the WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate Change and Health urging health education stakeholders to integrate climate change and environmental degradation into professional curricula to prepare the workforce for future health risks.

• The WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate Change and Health asserts that health professionals have an ethical and professional duty to understand current and future environmental health threats to serve their patients and society, particularly as climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous and disadvantaged communities.
• Current health education is insufficient; a survey of future doctors' programs indicates a global lack of climate change education, often relying on student-led initiatives. Additionally, a survey of 160 health professional schools identified barriers to integrating this content, specifically citing a lack of institutional support.
• The open letter outlines four specific calls to action for education stakeholders: integrating climate and health competencies into curricula, accreditations, and professional development; providing a health lens for multi-sectoral climate education; advocating for more funding and resources for research and education; and sharing educational resources.
• Strengthening educational and training programs for health professionals is identified as a key strategy for achieving resilient, low-carbon health systems, which must also work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by healthcare delivery.

APA

Kanakath, P. (2023). A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/who-cs-wg-call-to-strengthen-climate-change-education/

Chicago

Kanakath, Pramod. A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals. Global Climate and Health Alliance, 2023. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/who-cs-wg-call-to-strengthen-climate-change-education/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Kanakath |first1=Pramod |title=A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |date=15 February 2023 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/who-cs-wg-call-to-strengthen-climate-change-education/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kanakath2023call, author = {Kanakath, Pramod}, title = {{A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals}}, publisher = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/who-cs-wg-call-to-strengthen-climate-change-education/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }