The Lancet Countdown: From 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health

The Lancet Countdown’s 2017 report is being launched with events around the world on the 31st of October. The Royal Society of Medicine will host its London launch from 14:00 – 18:00.

The report is the culmination of the work of 24 leading academic institutions and inter-governmental agencies, and tracks current progress on the relationship between public health and climate change.

This event is an opportunity to hear from leaders in global public health and from report’s authors about their findings, and their implications for health professionals, governments, and the UN climate change negotiations.

Speakers include:

• Dr Richard Horton (Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet*)
• Professor Anthony Costello (Director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization)
• Professor Paul Ekins (Director of the Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London)
• Professor Elizabeth Robinson (School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. University of Reading)
• Professor Hilary Graham (Department of Health Sciences, University of York)
• Professor Tadj Oreszczyn (Head of Department, Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources, University College London)

About the Lancet Countdown:

The Lancet Countdown tracks progress on the relationships between human health and climate change, and their implications for governments’ commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.

It follows on from the work of the 2015 Lancet Commission, which concluded that anthropogenic climate change threatens to undermine the last 50 years of gains in public health, and conversely, that a comprehensive response to climate change could be “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”.

The Lancet Countdown exists as a collaboration between 24 academic institutions and inter-governmental organisations, based in every continent, and with representation from a wide range of disciplines, including: climate scientists, ecologists, economists, engineers, experts in energy, food and transport systems, geographers, mathematicians, social and political scientists, public health professionals, and physicians. The collaboration reports annual indicators across five domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.

You can find more information about the Lancet Countdown’s work at www.lancetcountdown.org

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