PMAC 2023
Setting a New Health Agenda – at the Nexus of Climate Change, Environment and Biodiversity
26 - 29 January 2023
Centara Grand at Central World, Bangkok, Thailand
The triple planetary crisis, three interconnected crises – ‘Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss, and Pollution’ are putting global health and well-being at risk. They undermine opportunities to reduce poverty, ensure intra- and inter-generational equity and improve lives, and they complicate the response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Addressing and acting on the nexus of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation would reduce the risk of current and new health threats, creating a more promising and healthy future for coming generations and not leaving the most vulnerable groups behind.1 There are salient opportunities for maximizing health co-benefits by addressing inter-linkages and common grounds of social and planetary dimensions for future human- and planet sustainability, creating multi-level conversations and actions to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda.
The Prince Mahidol Award Conference is a powerful global multi-stakeholder platform that can enable complex dialogues, stimulating inter-sectorial and interdisciplinary collaboration among countries, sectors and disciplines, sending positive signals for scaling up efforts to tackle these converging crises, and to improve human and planetary health. PMAC 2023 offers a unique opportunity to address the Triple Planetary Crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution) and Triple Billion global health burden of people lacking access to health care, needing enhanced protection from health emergencies, and falling behind health and wellbeing metrics.
Addressing the Nexus of Climate Change, Environment, Biodiversity, and Health Emergencies
Read moreChallenges and Opportunities: Overcoming Challenges and Harnessing Opportunities for Health at the Biodiversity Climate Nexus
Read moreMaking a Difference - Taking Action on the Ground
Read moreThe triple planetary crisis, three interconnected crises ‒ climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss‒ are putting global health and well-being at risk. They undermine opportunities to reduce poverty, ensure intra- and inter-generational equity and improve lives, and they complicate the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and the prevention of another infectious disease pandemic. Vulnerable populations and areas with already weak health infrastructure are at most risk, often without the capacity to prepare and respond to the impact of these interconnected crisis.
Acknowledgement of the health–environment nexus, our scientific understanding of the crises and the common urgency to act upon them are growing. But the relationship between health, climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss is complex, and there is an urgent need to understand these complexities to create policies of mitigation and adaption to their direct and indirect relations. Over 4 million people die prematurely each year from outdoor air pollution. Two-third of which can be attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, a direct driver of climate change. The energy sector is responsible for almost three-quarters of the emissions that have already pushed global average temperatures 1.1 °C higher since the pre-industrial age , highlighting the energy sector’s place at the core of sustainable change, finding new solutions while balancing the rise in demand with a growing global population.
At high levels, leaders have signalled an interest in shifting global activities toward more integrated and inter-disciplinary work at the climate, biodiversity and health nexus. However, to address the triple crisis with their interactions with and implications for health we need systemic change, swift actions and innovative solutions from all sectors and all levels of society.
A holistic approach to planetary and human wellbeing is provided by Kate Raworth's "Doughnut Economics" model. Raworth’s model builds on Rockström’s planetary boundaries by combining social and planetary boundaries, taking a systematic approach for future sustainability for human and planetary health, questioning the need for traditional economic growth to re-focus on more sustainable policies for all. According to the doughnut economic model the environmentally safe and socially just space in which humanity can thrive lays between social and planetary boundaries. In addition, the world is home to the largest generation of youth in history whose future is increasingly uncertain. We must ensure that they are given the opportunity to actively participate in decision-making processes and to hold decision makers accountable.
The World We Want: What does an environmentally safe and socially just space for humanity look like? How can the health sector strengthen the social foundation and at the same time reinforce the ecological ceiling to create/nurture an environmentally safe and socially just space for humanity?
1International Energy Agency (2021) World Energy Outlook 2021. https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2021
2 Raworth, K. (2017). A Doughnut for the Anthropocene: humanity's compass in the 21st century. The lancet planetary health, 1(2), e48-e49.
3 Rockström et.al. (2009) Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and society, Vol.14, Issue
4Steffen et.al. (2015) Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, Vol 347,Issue 6223
Unabated biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution are the leading global health challenges of our time. Our dysfunctional global food system is at the heart of this “triple planetary crisis” and holistic multisectoral approaches to health, such as One Health and planetary health, are at the heart of solutions to bridge the persistent and growing health challenges they pose. At the same time, ecosystem-based approaches, or nature-based solutions, that embed health co-benefits offer essential opportunities to meet the adaptation and mitigation commitments set out in the Paris Agreement and post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, when combined with food system transformation, technological innovation, a green energy transition and the necessary socio-political and economic conditions to achieve equity and social justice.
This sub-theme aims to take in-depth look at the common drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution, and the impact of these environmental determinants, coupled with social, political and economic determinants on health outcomes. It will focus both on underlying systemic challenges at this nexus and key opportunities to overcome them in the path toward sustainable transformational change. It will further seek to catalyze health leadership, from local to global levels, by drawing on existing evidence and knowledge through more coordinated, ambitious and inclusive multi-sectoral approaches to inform evidence-based policies and actions. It will also seek to identify key opportunities to maximize health co-benefits and minimize trade-offs at the biodiversity-climate nexus, and to build both social and ecological resilience, and resilient health systems and societies, in the face of global environmental change.
The year 2022 presents a great opportunity to mainstream social justice and health in the global environmental agenda, with far-reaching consequences for the long-term health and resilience of communities and societies worldwide.
In recovering from the global shock caused by COVID-19 - and the resulting damage to livelihoods, health, and sustainable development – governments are increasingly prioritizing a healthy and sustainable recovery of their economies that takes into account the broader social, commercial and environmental determinants of health. To encourage a healthy post-COVID recovery, in May 2020, WHO launched its Manifesto, laying out 6 prescriptions and over 70 actions for achieving more sustainable, just and healthy societies.
Efforts by civil society groups, local communities, and policy makers at various levels have led to the increased recognition of the interconnections between our planet and our health. This is increasingly reflected in international fora, each of which present essential entry points for more coordinated, transformative change. This section will discuss essential entry points to raise ambition at the global level, examples include: World Health Day 2022 “Our planet, our health” campaign, the UN convention on biodiversity (CBD) process to develop a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, the Health argument for climate action in the lead up to COP 27, the G7 and G20 commitment to the protection, management and restoration of biodiversity, and an improved understanding of the interrelations between nature, climate and health crises. (G7 2030 Nature Compact, G7 One Health Initiative), The Sao Paulo Declaration on Planetary Health (2021).
Investing in basic services can protect the health of the most vulnerable from the risks associated with climate change and nature loss. Investing in well-designed health services, infrastructure, sanitation, clean drinking water, drainage, electricity, and land-rights, can transform development opportunities, reduce inequalities, increase adaptive capacity, and reduce vulnerability to climate-related risks.
We have the solutions at hand. Priority actions to address the current climate, biodiversity and health crises include: protecting and restoring nature as the foundation of our health; building health resilience to climate risks; creating energy systems that protect and improve climate and health; transforming urban environments, transport, and mobility; promoting healthy, sustainable, and resilient food systems; and finance a healthier, fairer, and greener future to save lives.
The public health benefits of actions and investments to reverse the climate and biodiversity crises far outweigh the costs. The health co-benefits from climate change actions are well evidenced, offer strong arguments for transformative change, and can be gained across many sectors. Effective solutions to reverse nature loss - such as protecting existing forests and other ecosystems, sustainable agriculture and balanced and healthy diets - offer some of the highest potentials for mitigation and adaptation while also bringing many health benefits (see WHO COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health: The Health Argument for Climate Action).
(1) Addressing intersecting crises and political opportunities at the global level;
(2) National and local opportunities to maximize health outcomes
(3) Socio-political and economic dimensions: Financing a healthier, greener future.
This sub-theme 3, “Making a Difference: Taking Action on the Ground” will serve as an opportunity to critically reflect on the opportunities for action that are needed to create well-being societies. And it will exhibit initiatives, case-studies, alternative worldviews and socio-economic models for protecting and promoting health on a rapidly changing planet. These examples will represent a broad range of actors, sectors, geographies and perspectives and will highlight the multiple co-benefits of working across sectors for health, social justice, biodiversity and climate change.
Name | Position | Organization, Country | Role |
Dr. Vicharn Panich | Chair, International Award Committee | Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, Thailand | Chair |
Ms. Catherine Russell | Executive Director | United Nations Children's Fund, USA | Co-Chair |
Ms. Winnie Byanyima | Executive Director | Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Switzerland | Co-Chair |
Dr. Naoko Yamamoto | Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage and Health Systems Cluster | World Health Organization, Switzerland | Co-Chair |
Dr. Juan Pablo Uribe | Global Director for Health Nutrition and Population | The World Bank, USA | Co-Chair |
Mr. Haoliang Xu | Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme | United Nations Development Programme, USA | Co-Chair |
Dr. Marijke Wijnroks | Head, Strategy, Investment and Impact Division (SIID) a.i. | The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Switzerland | Co-Chair |
Dr. Osuke Komazawa | Senior Director, Human Development Department | Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan | Co-Chair |
Dr. Atul Gawande | Assistant Administrator for Global Health | United States Agency for International Development, USA | Co-Chair |
Dr. Barbara J. Stoll | President | China Medical Board, USA | Co-Chair |
Dr. Naveen Rao | Senior Vice President & Senior Advisor to the President, Health Initiative | The Rockefeller Foundation, USA | Co-Chair |
Dr. David Harper | Senior Consulting Fellow, Global Health Programme | Chatham House, United Kingdom | Co-Chair |
Dr. Fran Baum | Co-Chair Global Steering Council | People's Health Movement, Australia | Co-Chair |
Dr. Rintaro Mori | Regional Adviser (Population Ageing and Sustainable Development) | United Nations Population Fund, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Peter Friberg | Co-founder and Director | Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation, Sweden | IOC Member |
Dr. Shannon Larsen | Senior Program Officer Development Policy and Finance | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA | IOC Member |
Dr. Teo Yik Ying | Dean, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health | National University of Singapore, Singapore | IOC Member |
Dr. Ashley McKimm | Director of Partnership Development | British Medical Journal, United Kingdom | IOC Member |
Dr. Timothy Mastro | Chief Science Officer | FHI 360, USA | IOC Member |
Mr. Mohamed Eissa | Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues | International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), Egypt | IOC Member |
Dr. Dennis Carroll | Chair, Leadership Board | Global Virome Project, USA | IOC Member |
Dr. Jesse Bump | Executive Director of the Takemi Program in International Health and Lecturer on Global Health Policy | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA | IOC Member |
Dr. Udom Kachintorn | Former Deputy Minister | Ministry of Education, Thailand | IOC Member |
Mr. Thani Thongphakdi | Permanent Secretary | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Kiattibhoom Vongrachit | Permanent Secretary | Ministry of Public Health, Thailand | IOC Member |
Mr. Danucha Pichayanan | Secretary General | National Economic and Social Development Council, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Supat Vanichakarn | Secretary General | Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Jadej Thammatach-aree | Secretary General | National Health Security Office, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Nopporn Cheanklin | Director | Health Systems Research Institute, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Supreda Adulyanon | Chief Executive Officer | Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Banchong Mahaisavariya | President | Mahidol University, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Prasit Watanapa | Dean, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital | Mahidol University, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Chanchai Sittipunt | Dean, Faculty of Medicine | Chulalongkorn University, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Piyamitr Sritara | Dean, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital | Mahidol University, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert | Vice Chair | International Health Policy Program Foundation and Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Foundation, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Viroj Tangcharoensathien | Senior Advisor | International Health Policy Program, Thailand | IOC Member |
Dr. Walaiporn Patcharanarumol | Director, Global Health Division | Ministry of Public Health, Thailand | IOC Member |
Mr. Gerardo Zamora-Monge | Executive Officer, Office of Assistant Director-General, Division of UHC/Healthier Populations | World Health Organization, Switzerland | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Toomas Palu | Advisor in Global Health | The World Bank, Switzerland | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Mandeep Dhaliwal | Director, HIV, Health and Development | United Nations Development Programme, USA | Member & Joint Secretary |
Ms. Debora Comini | Deputy Regional Director, East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office | United Nations Children's Fund, Thailand | Member & Joint Secretary |
Mr. Taoufik Bakkali | Regional Director ai, Regional Support Team Asia and the Pacific | Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Thailand | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Scott Stewart | Senior Health Economist, Bureau for Global Health | United States Agency for International Development, USA | Member & Joint Secretary |
Ms. Shoko Isokawa | Director, Human Development Department | Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Phuong Nhan Le | CMB SE Asia Regional Representative | China Medical Board, Thailand | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Charlanne Burke | Director, Integrated Operations, Health Initiative | The Rockefeller Foundation, USA | Member & Joint Secretary |
Ms. Bridget Lloyd | Steering Committee | People's Health Movement, South Africa | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Thananya Boonyasirinant | Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs | Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thaland | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Churnrurtai Kanchanachitra | Professor | Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Thailand | Member & Joint Secretary |
Dr. Rapeepong Suphanchaimat | Director | International Health Policy Program, Thailand | Member & Joint Secretary |