AMSTERDAM — Our planet’s health is intimately connected to our own, and the medical community must step up to address the consequences of the current environmental crisis, experts said at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2025 International Congress. They framed climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss not just as environmental issues but as a profound public health crisis.

“The future will be very different from the past,” warned Liz Grant, PhD, professor of global health and planetary health at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. Yet, she said, the healthcare sector has been slow to adapt. “The way we are designing our health services [and] the way we’re delivering health isn’t actually taking [that] into consideration.”

With firsthand knowledge of the health impacts of a degraded environment — from respiratory illnesses exacerbated by air pollution to the rise of novel infectious diseases — the medical community is uniquely positioned to drive change, the panel agreed.

What Is Planetary Health? 

Human health and the health of our planet are one and the same, said Hanna Haveri, MD, PhD, specialist in neurology and planetary health physician at Päijät-Häme Central Hospital in Lahti, Finland.

She said there are three main issues with planetary health: Climate change and the public health crisis, which are well acknowledged within the medical community, and biodiversity loss, which is less spoken about.

Biodiversity loss may pose a risk to immunological disorders and may increase the risk for asthma and allergies, she explained. That is because reduced contact with a rich variety of environmental microbes, especially in childhood, can lead to a miscalibrated immune system and a higher incidence of immune-mediated conditions.

Rather than tackling each crisis in isolation, Haveri argued for finding common solutions that create co-benefits across health, climate, and biodiversity. For example, promoting contact with nature to support immune tolerance can simultaneously improve public health, reduce healthcare costs, and create an incentive for preserving green spaces and biodiversity. “The whole cake should be thought of as one. We have to try to find solutions that take into account all of these pieces at once.”

Successfully implementing such solutions requires a unified effort from multiple parties, including clinicians, policymakers, NGOs, and citizens. “We have to have good networks, we have to combine our experiences. We have to have a collaboration, and the collaboration can go through the whole society.”

A Prescription for the Planet 

The failure to address these challenges carries costs. The direct impacts of climate change result in economic losses of more than $200 billion per year, while the decline in labor productivity due to factors such as heat stress costs an estimated $830 billion globally, said Grant.

The healthcare sector itself is a major contributor to the problem, said Grant. “The healthcare sector, were it a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter on the planet.” This reality, she said, gives the medical community a unique responsibility — and opportunity — to lead by example.

So what can physicians do?

• Pitch for co-benefits: Frame environmental action in terms of health and economic gains. “If we invest in integrating health responses into the climate response, this is actually bringing together a win-win situation,” said Grant. For instance, advocating for clean air policies not only fights climate change but also directly reduces the burden of respiratory diseases. When speaking to policymakers, she added, the economic argument is powerful. “We, as clinicians, can provide the data, the evidence of illness. We can overlay that with the economic loss in our country.”
• Pitch for prevention: The climate crisis is a breeding ground for future health emergencies, including pandemics. The medical community must shift the focus from reaction to prevention. Grant cited Larry Brilliant, American epidemiologist and philanthropist who played a key role in the World Health Organization’s efforts to eradicate smallpox: “Outbreaks are inevitable, but pandemics are optional.” Proactive, ecologically-informed public health measures are the best defense, she added.
• Pitch for hope: While the situation is dire, despair is not an option. By aligning with global frameworks, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the health community can offer a positive vision for the future. “The future of humanity and our planet lies in our hands,” Grant said.

The issue of equity is also central to the current crisis solutions. Grant acknowledged that many current “green” solutions proposed today are accessible only to the “comfortable middle classes.” But how will we engage with the deprived, poor, disadvantaged, who are the greatest burden on our health services?

Haveri offered practical solutions, such as providing free, healthy, and sustainably produced food in schools. She also called for planetary health education to be woven into the medical training. “We are working to really build in an understanding right from year one of medical school that this triple planetary crisis matters,” Grant agreed. “The health community has a real opportunity here to be at the forefront to make these shifts.”

Grant and Haveri reported having no relevant financial relationships.

Manuela Callari is a freelance science journalist specializing in human and planetary health. Her work has been published in The Medical Republic, Rare Disease Advisor, New Scientist, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, and others.