THERE is no doubt that our planet and its climate are changing because of human actions. We now face more extreme weather events, declining biodiversity, and increasing degradation and pollution of the natural environment.
The global interest in planetary health has witnessed a big jump. Our own Academy of Science (ASM) has embarked on a massive undertaking to propose policy directions on planetary health, especially on its potential ramifications on the country.
Planetary health is generally defined as the health of human populations and the state of the natural systems on which they depend. Urgent attention and action are required to address the extensive damage that humans have created in the name of economic progress.
The fact that our health is intrinsically linked to the health of the planet makes it even more urgent to adopt mitigating measures.
The ASM study emphasises the need to understand the dynamic and systemic relationships between global environmental changes, their effects on natural systems, and how changes to natural systems affect human health and wellbeing.
Emphasising the interconnectedness between human health and environmental changes will enable more holistic thinking about overlapping challenges and integrated solutions for present and future generations.
The concept of planetary health offers an opportunity to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This would also include identifying the benefits across targets, encouraging effective cross-sector action and partnerships, and ensuring policy coherence. Collaboration is key.
No doubt the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offers opportunities to advance planetary health.
As the scientific evidence strengthens and public appreciation increases, many suggest now is the time to move from concept to decisive action. Moving beyond a conceptual approach to advance actions requires efficient monitoring and reporting of the relevant indicators.
The data should capture the scope, spatial and time scales of changes to natural systems, allowing us to assess the effects of potential solutions.
A robust evidence-based strategy on planetary health solutions, including their costs, trade-offs and effects on the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, could accelerate the development, prioritisation, coordination and implementation of key policy actions to protect planetary health.
Today, few will deny that we face a combination of multiple crises affecting our collective health as well as that of this planet.
These include new and increasingly virulent infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics, rising obesity and other chronic diseases, unsustainable food production processes, water-related tensions and potential for conflict, rapid biodiversity collapse and the climate crisis.
These crises are driven by a complex interplay of entirely human-generated political, social, economic and environmental factors. We as a country have a share of those. The humanitarian consequences are dire.
We see the hard-won gains in human health over the last century are being eroded by a lack of recognition that our economic progress has been at the expense of the health of the planet. We are now close to a tipping point where the poor health of the planet will diminish the possibility of healthy lives and survival for succeeding generations.
There is a need for a new approach that emphasises humanity coming together, assuming greater responsibility for our collective actions, and working to equalise responsible access to and use of limited resources.
We need to act now, not later. We should strive to achieve the highest attainable standard of health, wellbeing and equity worldwide through judicious attention to political, economic and social systems. To advance humanity's wellbeing, the declining state of planet Earth can no longer be ignored.
This is where the undertakings on planetary health at ASM should be supported. Since the study involves rigorous consultations with stakeholders, experts in the relevant areas must make time to participate in the many focused discussions planned. Failure to get positive and active participation will not produce the right policy outputs.
In the food area, it is common knowledge that we as a nation are now up against many issues that do not support sustainability. These include the entire value chain from production to consumption.
Talks about declining productivity are common. We need solutions. We need new ideas. We need action. Together we can make it happen.
The writer is a professor at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, UCSI University