The COVID-19 pandemic has been a chaotic dress rehearsal for more serious health crises in the future. And the blunders of the past few years revealed what is missing from the politics of intertwining domestic and foreign policy with global health.

The failure to ensure universal access to vaccines — especially in low- and middle-income countries — highlights some nations’ selfishness. The existential threat of climate change presents new health problems that will require more international collaboration and consensus. There is a way to do this. And it involves bringing in the views of those not currently dominating global health discussions.

The climate emergency is a global health issue that has dramatic consequences for the health of the world’s population from rising dengue fever and heat-related illness, to worsening undernutrition and ‘climate anxiety’, especially among young people. It affects every health arena and every agenda item of the annual World Health Assembly.

But because climate is seen as a ‘tomorrow' problem and is also not seen as being linked to healthcare, it barely features in World Health Organization negotiations, government relations or boardroom discussions.

But the health sector needs to be ready to respond to the health impacts of climate change and be able to develop a strategy on how to influence other sectors (for example energy and agriculture) that primarily drive climate change through their emissions. Therefore the climate crisis must be a top issue for health diplomacy, integrated into all aspects of global health deliberations.

Protecting the planet improves human health in return. Future health diplomacy should begin caring not only about the health of people but also the planet. Keeping the focus on people and forgetting about the planet will lead to the continuation of rapid and damaging global environmental change that will in turn affect the health of people.

This concept of planetary health has only recently become popular among the scientific community but its message — that the health of people and the planet are inextricably intertwined — is something many indigenous communities across the world have been embracing for centuries.

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