New WBGU report „Healthy living on a healthy planet”

On 14 June, the new WBGU (German Advisory Council on Global Change) report was handed over to the German government. As a member of the WBGU, IDOS Director, Professor Anna-Katharina Hornidge, contributed to the report.

The WBGU’s flagship report, presented on 14 June, is also dedicated to the link between environment and health. Based on a broad understanding of health that links physical well-being with mental and social well-being, the authors argue for new development paths that promote human well-being while protecting nature.

The WBGU’s expert panel shows, how our previous way of life and civilisational development have endangered the health of ecosystems and led to the decline of biodiversity. The health of nature has a direct impact on human health, which is exposed not only to the direct consequences of climate change such as heat or drought, but also to indirect consequences such as the increase in illness caused by civilisation. Against the background of these developments, the WBGU argues for a fundamental rethinking of the way we deal with health and presents recommendations for appropriate political action. The panel argues for a global urgency governance for environmental and health protection, which is oriented towards the national and international mandate for action of the Agenda2030 and provides for anchoring health concerns in all departments at all political levels. At the international level, the authors advocate including the right to a healthy environment in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and making the interlinking of environment and health a priority on the agenda of both the UN Summit of the Future and COP28 in November 2023.