Last minute updates for this weekend's conference:
- Sadly, Virginia Murray (our closing keynote speaker) is no longer able to speak because the recent flooding has left the Extreme Events team at Public Health England with a lot of urgent issues to attend to. Andrew Watkinson will instead be the final keynote speaker, with Sunday's opening speaker to be confirmed soon.
- Karen Newman is also no longer able to participate because of family circumstances, but reproductive health advocate Felicia Yeung, and potentially another speaker tbc, will now be speaking on population and sustainability in her stead.
- Please remember to bring a bottle of water and cup or mug with you if possible!
- If you have any questions, please email Isobel at [email protected]. Thanks!
"Climate change is the biggest threat to global health of the 21st Century."
This was the conclusion of a major UCL-Lancet report on the health impacts of climate change in 2009. It affects people's physical and mental health, both directly and indirectly. And the impacts are greatest on those already on the margins, who are often least responsible. At the same time there is a wealth of evidence that taking action on climate change can result in major health improvements; so-called ‘co-benefits’. For example, replacing fossil fuel-dependent energy and transport systems with renewable energy and active travel, eg. walking and cycling, are good news for both health and sustainability. The conference aims to provide a general introduction to the links between environmental change and health as well as related issues such as disasters, food security, transport & energy policy. |
Delegates will have the opportunity to hear from experts, discuss the issues and come up with their own solutions; the weekend will be a mix of plenary and interactive smaller workshop sessions, and a Saturday night social. We'll do our best to help those travelling to London find to find a local host to stay with (email us if you will need, or can offer, a place to stay). You can also join the facebook event here, and follow us on facebook and twitter for news and updates.
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Today's young people have a critical role to play in
building a more sustainable, healthier future:
come along, and find out how.
About the weekend: practical info
Dates: March 1st & 2nd 2014, 9:30-5:30 .
Venue: UCL Institute of Global Health at 30 Guilford Street (near Russell Sq. tube station, central London)
Target audience: Students, young people, recent graduates (but anyone welcome!)
Speakers & programme
You can find the full list of confirmed speakers here. They include:
And many other leading experts in fields related to climate change, sustainability, health and social justice. For the full list, see the speakers page.
- Professor Sir Andy Haines, review editor for the health chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 5th Assessment Report;
- Professor Virginia Murray, the UK government’s Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection and an editor of the IPCC’s Special Report on Extreme Events;
- Dr. Louise Newport, Scientific Policy Manager, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Extreme Weather at the UK Department of Health;
- Professor Tim Lang (Professor of Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City University);
- Professor Andrew Watkinson, director of the Living With Environmental Change programme and former director of the Tyndall Centre;
- Dr. David Pencheon, Director of the NHS and Public Health England Sustainable Development Unit;
- Prof. Mala Rao, University of East London
- Rachel Stancliffe, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, Oxford
And many other leading experts in fields related to climate change, sustainability, health and social justice. For the full list, see the speakers page.
The programme includes panel events on:
& a wide range of small-group workshop options, including:
- Sustainable food and transport systems in tackling non-communicable diseases
- Population growth, gender and reproductive rights
- Energy policy, air pollution and health
- UK policy & health system responses to our changing climate
& a wide range of small-group workshop options, including:
- Building a sustainable health system: lessons learnt from the UK and around the world
- Health and disaster risk reduction
- How does climate change and health fit into the post-2015 agenda and UNFCCC process?
- Population & reproductive rights - the case for joint advocacy
- Practical steps towards sustainable healthcare: the Green Impact scheme and Sustainable Specialties as case studies
- Re-imagining the future city: inspiring children, informing policy
- Cleaner air for healthier people: the Healthy Air campaign
- Communicating climate change, and how to write a press release
- The health impacts of coal power - implications for UK and EU energy policy
- Divestment and the UCL Fossil Free campaign
- Healthy Planet's schools volunteering project: the next steps
Provisional programme - click here
The organising team...
(More info here). Just drop us a line at [email protected] if you have any questions, or would like to volunteer during the conference.
Supporting organisations
Primary sponsors
UCL Grand Challenges are the mechanisms through which expertise from across UCL and beyond can be brought together to address the world's key problems. They support researchers to think about how their work relates to global issues, and have awarded the Healthy Planet UCL group a Student Project Grant towards the costs of the 'Global Health and Justice In a Changing Environment' conference.
The Grand Challenges are in 4 main areas: The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH; previously the Campaign for Greener Healthcare) seek to inspire people to realise the vital importance of the overlap between their wellbeing and environmental sustainability, particularly in the field of healthcare, and have a wealth of experience in its own team, and through a wide network of partners, in the fields of health and the environment. During the past three years, they have developed a range of projects to green the NHS. The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare's programmes concentrate on three areas: engagement; knowledge sharing; and transformation. http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk
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Other supporting organisations

The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) is a leading European not-for-profit organisation addressing how the environment affects health in the EU. With the support of over 65 different member organisations, they demonstrate how policy changes can help protect health and enhance quality of life.
http://www.env-health.org
The UCL Institute of Global Health, based in the Institute of Child Health, is the research and teaching community at the heart of UCL's Grand Challenge of Global Health, and is a world-leading centre of research on climate change and health. They have very kindly enabled us to use the conference venue free of charge.
http://www.env-health.org
The UCL Institute of Global Health, based in the Institute of Child Health, is the research and teaching community at the heart of UCL's Grand Challenge of Global Health, and is a world-leading centre of research on climate change and health. They have very kindly enabled us to use the conference venue free of charge.

The MDU are the leading medical defence organisation in the UK - www.themdu.com, and have provided their support for the conference.