A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals

The WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate Change and Health calls on universities, accrediting bodies, and educators to ensure health professionals are equipped to handle the health impacts of climate change. The letter highlights a global lack of institutional support and formal educational programs, urging the integration of climate competencies into curricula and the pursuit of multi-sectoral collaborations to build resilient, low-carbon health systems.

• 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 educational programs for future doctors are insufficient globally and frequently rely on student-led initiatives rather than institutional mandates.
• A survey of 160 health professional schools identified significant obstacles to incorporating climate and health content into curricula, specifically citing a lack of institutional support.
• The WHO-Civil Society Working Group proposes four specific actions: integrating climate and health competencies into all curricula and professional development, providing a health lens for other sectors' climate programs, securing more funding for research and education, and sharing educational resources.
• Strengthening training for health professionals is identified as a key strategy for creating resilient, low-carbon health systems, which must also work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 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} }