Mental Health Noncommunicable Diseases
• Research & Reports
What Is Planetary Health?
Brain Health
Our environment shapes neurological function and mental well-being, while resilient brains empower societies to adapt to and mitigate planetary challenges.
1 in 4 dementia deaths worldwide, approximately 626,000 deaths each year, is attributable to air pollution.
Brain health sits at the heart of Planetary Health, reflecting the dynamic relationship between human biology, social systems, and the environments we depend on to survive and thrive. The brain, our organ of cognition, emotion, behavior, and social connection, is uniquely sensitive to environmental conditions shaped by how we steward the planet. Rising temperatures, air and water pollution, extreme weather events, food and water insecurity, ecosystem degradation, and exposure to environmental toxins all affect neurological function, cognitive performance, and mental health across the lifespan.
20-30 minutes in natural environments can significantly improve attention, working memory, and executive function, compared with urban settings.
At the same time, healthy brains enable learning, creativity, cooperation, and collective decision-making, capacities that societies need to adapt to environmental change, design sustainable systems, and respond to crises. When environmental degradation undermines brain health, it weakens individual well-being, social cohesion, productivity, and communities’ ability to respond effectively to planetary challenges. This makes brain health both a vulnerability and a leverage point within the Planetary Health framework.
Our Brain Under Environmental Stress
Scientific evidence increasingly shows that environmental stressors act on the brain through interconnected biological, psychological, and social pathways. Heat stress disrupts sleep, cognition, and mental health; air pollution accelerates cognitive decline and increases the risk of dementia and neurodevelopmental disorders; extreme weather events drive trauma, displacement, and long-lasting effects on mental and cognitive health. These risks are not evenly distributed. Children, older adults, people with pre-existing neurological or mental health conditions, and communities facing socioeconomic disadvantage bear a disproportionate burden. A Planetary Health approach therefore requires centering on equity, prevention, and resilience.
Planetary Health Solutions for Brain Health
Crucially, many Planetary Health solutions are also brain-protective solutions. Cleaner air, climate-resilient food systems, access to green and blue spaces, urban tree canopies, reduced noise and heat exposure, and stronger social infrastructure all support cognitive function, emotional well-being, and neurological health while delivering environmental co-benefits. By explicitly integrating brain health into Planetary Health research, policy, and practice, we can better capture the full human benefits of environmental action and design interventions that strengthen both people and planet.
Resources
Mental Health Youth Voices
• News
Climate Change’s Hidden Mental Toll On Children Think Global Health.
Mental Health Noncommunicable Diseases
• Research & Reports
Environmental Neuroscience Springer Nature Link.
Research and Evaluation Technology and Innovation
10 Emerging Technology Solutions for Planetary Health. World Economic Forum.
New report from the World Economic Forum and Frontiers identifies 10 technologies with the potential to accelerate climate action, restore ecosystems, and drive sustainable innovation within planetary boundaries.
• Research & Reports
Technology and Innovation
Why Prosocial AI Matters For The Future Of Planetary Health. Forbes.
Most people experience these as separate crises: AI as a technological disruption, planetary degradation as an environmental problem. But they are deeply entangled, and understanding this entanglement is our best hope for a regenerative future.
• News
Collaboration and Partnerships Planetary Health Frameworks
Health Professionals Launch First-Ever National Day of Action on Planetary Health
• News
Culture and Values Economics and Economic Systems
Commercial Determinants of Active Travel: A Crucial but Overlooked Barrier to Health and Sustainability. The Lancet Planetary Health.
Despite its well-documented benefits, active travel remains considerably underutilized in many countries. To effectively promote active travel, understanding its determinants across all levels of the social–ecological framework, such as individual attitudes and beliefs, social norms, policies, and infrastructure and topography, is important.
• News
Food Systems Collaboration and Partnerships
Entire Erasmus University campus commits to Planetary Health Diet by 2030
Erasmus University Rotterdam is the first university in the Netherlands to introduce the Planetary Health Diet on a campus-wide level.
• News
