NEHA Signs World Health Organization (WHO) Climate Agreement Call for Action
NEHA invites all health professionals to join WHO on the call to action for a strong and effective climate agreement that will save lives both now and in the future and for a climate change agreement that promotes the following:
The American Public Health Association (APHA) webinar Climate Changes Health: Two CDC BRACE Grantees Take Steps Toward Adaptation will provide information about the CDC’s BRACE (Building Resilience Against Climate Effects) framework and share climate adaptation steps communities in Oregon and Vermont are taking to prevent the health threats related to climate change.
To gain a better understanding of cross sectoral approaches to addressing the social determinants of health, the Association of Academic Health Centers is conducting interviews with individuals from organizations utilizing non-healthcare approaches to improving health. This session will focus on the stories of two organizations addressing environmental issues - one focusing on environmental health, and one on climate change & global health - and how they can collaborate with academic health centers to improve health.
"Environmental health professionals work in your communities to protect your air, food, and water. The President’s Clean Power Plan builds on our profession’s efforts to create safe and healthy communities by limiting carbon pollution from power plants, which will improve and protect the public’s health now and for years to come. We welcome and support this significant milestone."
Addressing climate change can be an overwhelming and daunting task, but when all individuals in a community engage, prepare, and collaborate on effective climate change strategies, partnerships and solutions arise. Evaluating baseline opinions, values, core beliefs, and identities of a community’s diverse population will allow environmental health professionals to better understand how and where behavior change can produce maximum results. Promoting long-term planning for climate change is important. Communities must create and be examples of more efficient and sustainable lifestyles, such as using active and mass transportation, reducing waste, and conserving energy and water.
Check out NEHA's new interactive climate and health online community. Participate in discussion posts, find relevant resources and share climate and health events from your organization.
In 2019, NEHA, in partnership with Climate for Health, developed the "Emergency Preparedness and Response to Climate Change: The Role of Environmental Health." The report explores climate impacts including human health, the economy, air quality, extreme heat, drought, wildfires, extreme floods, and vector-borne illness. The role of environmental health in emergency preparedness and response was explored through the lens of the three core functions of public health - assessment, policy development, and assurance. Challenges and existing gaps were identified in the report, along with recommendations. Based on this report, NEHA has developed seven fact sheets that further explore the role of the environmental health workforce in emergency preparedness and response regarding air quality, extreme heat, drought, wildfires, extreme storms, floods, and vector-borne disease.
As part of NEHA's partnership with Climate for Health, we are addressing climate change through clean energy solutions. NEHA's Board of Directors approved a declaration on 100% clean energy by 2030. Carbon pollution is warming our planet and profoundly affecting the U.S. and the world. U.S. leadership can help the world meet these challenges with innovative solutions. We have an obligation to act today on climate change and build a sustainable future for our children, so we must start with mitigating our own climate impact. Therefore, NEHA is committed to working towards 100% clean energy use by 2030. We will employ administrative, educational, engineering, and fiscal measures to meet this goal.
View the 100% Clean Energy Declaration
Executive Director Dr. David Dyjack weighed in on the developments from the board meeting: “I am very pleased that the board approved the 100% clean energy declaration. Our organization is committed to being the most influential voice in the environmental health profession. Through this declaration, NEHA continues to project leadership and provide the highest quality tools and resources that can help guide and inform decisions that affect public health and the health of our country.”
NEHA's Board of Directors adopted NEHA's Climate Change Policy Statement written by NEHA's Climate Change Committee. Climate change is affecting environmental health—the quality of air, food, and water in the communities where we live, work and play (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). NEHA recognizes climate change as a worldwide environmental health problem that has health and safety impacts on individuals and communities. Environmental health professionals improve and protect the public’s health and create and sustain healthy communities. It is NEHA’s responsibility to support the capacity of environmental health professionals to address the health impacts of climate change with risk assessment, adaptation, and mitigation planning.
NEHA and ecoAmerica's Climate for Health PartnershipNEHA is excited to partner with ecoAmerica’s Climate for Health program. Please see Climate for Health's resources and recent climate reports. Together, NEHA and Climate for Health are building visible national leadership on climate solutions and institutionalizing climate action as a health imperative; developing and supporting climate literate environmental health professionals that can lead on climate; engaging all leadership, members, and stakeholders; and building collective support and action for climate solutions within the NEHA community and across the health sector.
ecoAmerica’s Climate for Health program partners with America’s leading health associations and institutions to make climate change a top national health priority.
Climate for Health Resources and Tools
NEHA, in partnership with ecoAmerica, Climate for Health, has developed a five-minute video featuring NEHA members’ success stories addressing climate change impacts from Cambridge, Massachusetts; Salt Lake County, Utah; and Franklin County, Ohio. Environmental health professionals and members of NEHA’s Climate Change Committee share their inspiring stories addressing strategies for adaptation, mitigation at the community level, and strong coalitions and collaborations.
NEHA, in partnership with the ecoAmerica's Climate for Health, published survey results in the Journal of Environmental Health from three annual surveys that measure NEHA members' attitudes, awareness, and behaviors towards climate change. The results of these surveys better inform actions that Environmental Health professionals can take to adapt and prepare for climate change impacts in their local communities. Read the column in the Journal of Environmental Health
Additional Reports:
NEHA program committees provide guidance, input, and expertise to NEHA leadership and program staff, fellow environmental health professionals, and partner organizations on environmental health policies and programs. The Climate Change Committee Mission, Goals, and its Members are listed here.
