Climate Justice Is Environmental Justice: System Change for Promoting Planetary Health and a Just Transition From Extractive to Regenerative Action

Abstract

Our climate emergency is changing health promotion practice, and we need to increase our efforts. In the 20 years since our journal was published, we have witnessed the pressing challenges incurred by human-caused threats to planetary health. These threats are most profound in communities that are already unjustly under threat from structural factors such as poverty, toxic exposures, and inequitable allocation of resources for promoting their health. Those least responsible for contributing to this emergency, including all living environments in harm’s way, will unjustly experience the greatest burdens. This commentary calls for health promotion practice to engage in system change and action in the struggle for climate justice by adopting a planetary health perspective. There must be a just transition from extractive to regenerative economies and actions. We describe our own journey as researchers and health practitioners toward this call for action. We propose a series of system change actions in social, environmental, political, health systems, and health profession education within the scope and responsibility of health promotion practice.