Call for A Global Shift from Fossil Fuels to Clean, Renewable Energy
Health Care Without Harm, together with partners, has issued the Paris Platform for Healthy Energy, calling for a global shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.
The Paris Platform, endorsed by over 40 organisations representing the health sector in more than 80 countries, demonstrates a commitment to leadership and advocacy for clean, renewable, healthy energy choices in order to protect public health from both climate change and local pollution.
“The most important pathway to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to rapidly phase-out fossil fuel-based energy production and to promote clean, renewable energy choices,” said Jennifer Wang, Coordinator of the Healthy Energy Initiative for Health Care Without Harm.
Endorsers of the Paris Platform come from every continent and include organizations such as the World Federation of Public Health Associations, the Public Health Foundation of India, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Philippine Medical Association, and national public health associations from Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Denmark, India, Malta, New Zealand, Nicaragua, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The organizations that developed the Platform include Health Care Without Harm, Europe’s Health and Environment Alliance, and Australia’s Climate and Health Alliance. The Platform is also supported by the World Medical Association and endorsed its senior leadership.
With world leaders currently gathered in Paris to forge a global agreement to combat climate change, the Platform presents an opportunity for health professionals and organizations from around the world to demonstrate their support for a transition to clean, renewable energy.
The Paris Platform calls on governments at the COP21 negotiations to:
- Cease the deadly and costly dependence on fossil fuels by eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, avoiding new coal projects, and phasing out coal-fired power generation.
- Prioritize and finance development based on clean, renewable energy sources in order to protect public health.
- Reach an international agreement that fosters the transition to clean, renewable energy by, in part, transferring technical and financial resources to countries least able to make this transition.
The Paris Platform for Healthy Energy will also serve as a guiding document beyond COP21 for the health sector’s efforts globally and in key countries to advocate for healthy energy. The Healthy Energy Initiative is already active in Australia, China, Europe, India, the Philippines, and South Africa and will continue to build a broad health sector coalition to help foster a transition to clean, renewable energy in order to protect public health from local pollution and global climate change.
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About Health Care Without Harm Health Care Without Harm works to transform the health sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it becomes ecologically sustainable and a leading advocate for environmental health and justice. Health Care Without Harm has regional offices in Argentina, Belgium, the Philippines, and the United States. Convened by Health Care Without Harm during COP21, high-level representatives from more than 25 leading health systems and organizations gathered for a closed-door leadership Roundtable on December 3 and a day-long public conference on December 4 to share innovative strategies for climate mitigation resilience and leadership.
About the Healthy Energy Initiative Health Care Without Harm coordinates the Healthy Energy Initiative, a collaboration of health professionals and organizations around the world that are advocating for a transition from fossil fuels to clean, healthy renewable energy.