WHAT IS PLANETARY HEALTH?
The limited availability of freshwater, rare earth metals, and arable land is an enormous challenge in many parts of the world.
The supply of natural resources such as soil, water, and minerals is diminishing due to climate change and consumption patterns. Their scarcity ripples outward to other systems humans rely on for survival, such as agriculture and aquaculture, aquifers, woodlands, renewable energy sources, and medical technology and supplies.
In particular, demographic changes are driving sharp increases in global water and energy demand at a time when climate change and unsustainable water use promises to increase water scarcity in a variety of ways, and the emissions and runoff from mining activities negatively impact water, air, and soil quality. Ironically, the demand for renewable energy also increases the need for rare earth metals which are extracted at the expense of nature. Competition for scarce resources has also been linked to displacement of populations and conflict.
Generations of resource extraction and overuse of ecosystem services have scarred the natural environment: the planet cannot support current levels of human consumption, and the benefits we derive from ecosystem services and natural resource consumption can no longer justify the destruction of the environment. Research to better characterize these challenges and identify systems-level solutions to competing needs for ecosystem services is urgently needed.
Infectious Diseases Land Use and Land Cover Change
The case study documents how the Aguas Andinas company has increased its energy self-sufficiency and created a valuable suite of products from treated sewage that would have previously been sent to landfill—all while demonstrating that a circular economy model is better for the company’s bottom line and for climate change resilience in Santiago, Chile.
• Case Studies
Nutritional Diseases Biodiversity Loss
Set in the Maroantsetra region of northeastern Madagascar, this case looks at interventions that could dually support wildlife conservation and promote human health, including the possibility of sustainable wildlife harvest as well as domestic animal rearing.
• Case Studies
Nutritional Diseases Land Use and Land Cover Change
This case study focuses on a trio of strategies for redesigning the food system: the need to sustainably intensify production; promote a shift towards healthier plant-based diets; and reduce global food loss and waste.
• Case Studies
Life Stage and Reproductive Health Resource Scarcity
This case study illustrates the relationship between population, family planning, community health, and the sustainability of natural resources in the Lake Victoria Basin, the largest lake basin on the African continent.
• Case Studies
Infectious Diseases Land Use and Land Cover Change
• Research & Reports
