Planetary Health: The Need for a Great Transition

 Written by Joanna Wagner, Community Building & Outreach Coordinator at the Planetary Health Alliance. The Planetary Health Alliance exists at the heart of the global Planetary Health field, serving as a nucleus and backbone organization through which more than 300 organizations from over 60 countries come together to support the growth of this trans-disciplinary, solutions-oriented field. Learn more about PHA membership here, and subscribe to their monthly newsletter here. 

The field of Planetary Health was born in 2015, with the publication of the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health’s report Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch. Many reading this blog may find themselves asking, what exactly is Planetary Health? The answer: Planetary Health is a solutions-oriented, transdisciplinary field and social movement focused on analyzing and addressing the impacts of human disruptions to Earth’s natural systems on human health and all life on Earth (Planetary Health Alliance, 2022).

The need for such a field stems from the fact that we, as part of a global ecosystem, find ourselves in a new geological era, the Anthropocene, which is characterized by the dramatic impact that humanity has had on Earth’s natural systems. Many of these impacts have resulted out of actions that prioritize short term gains over longer term ecosystem stability, and we as a society have become all too familiar with the associated increased risks. From the hottest years on record, to the worldwide disappearance of pollinators (a topic especially relevant to the work of Herbicide Free Campus), to the global collapse of fisheries, events of the last decade have shown that our global environment is changing - and for the worse - and we can no longer safeguard the health and well-being of life on Earth.

Students associated with HFC at a weeding day to help reduce synthetic pesticide use on their campus.

  Overuse of synthetic pesticides is a prime example of how human intervention can significantly disrupt Earth’s self-regulating systems, and threaten long-term ecosystem health. These chemicals can result in runoff which pollutes surrounding topsoil and bodies of water, including drinking water supplies. These chemicals also kill off natural pollinators, disrupting system dynamics and reducing overall crop productivity. The negative impacts of pesticide use are a prime example of how short term public health goals that drive the use of these chemicals - increasing crop production and preventing the spread of vector borne disease - can wind up jeopardizing human health and local ecosystems in different ways, and have dire lasting implications that extend far beyond a short term lens.  

Hope, however, is far from lost. In fact, hope and science driven innovation are two of the core values of the Planetary Health Alliance, one of the organizations operating at the center of this field and movement. What is required is a systematic shift - a Great Transition - of how we as a society approach the relationship between humanity and our planet. A foundational understanding of Planetary Health is that everything is connected, and that changing our planet’s natural systems affects us as a human species (Planetary Health Alliance, 2022). After all, humankind is but one of millions of species living on our planet. Too often, we hear about “human and planetary health”, while in fact, the health of humankind is contingent on the continued existence of a healthy planet. Without a healthy Earth, our very existence is at risk - we cannot separate the two. Planetary Health principles exist at the foundation of numerous disciplines, including (but not limited to) the fight against the overuse of synthetic pesticides.

References

Planetary Health Alliance. (2022). Planetary Health. Planetary Health Alliance. https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/planetary-health

Planetary Health Alliance. (2022). About the PHA. Planetary Health Alliance. https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/about-the-pha 

Planetary Health Alliance. (2022). Joanna Wagner. Planetary Health Alliance. https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/joannawagner 

Water Science School. (2018, June 18). Pesticides in Groundwater. U.S Geological

Survey. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/pesticides-groundwater 

Xerces Society Team. (n.d). The Risk of Pesticides to Pollinators. Xerces Society. https://www.xerces.org/pesticides/risks-pesticides-pollinators