There are many studies that link the loss of biodiversity and the consequences of climate change with the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The Earth is getting warmer, the waves of heat and cold are more and more intense and the levels of pollution increasingly threaten public health. For this reason, the climate crisis continues to be present, and now more than ever, in government actions around the world in the face of a meteorological phenomenon that does not diminish.
Faced with increasing concern about climate change, Muy Interesante and Gaceta Médica have promoted the virtual debate space ‘Greentalks’ with the support of Fundamed and GSK. The main objective of these green meetings is to address the effects of the climate crisis on people’s health. For this, the digital meetings have the multidisciplinary participation of experts, scientific societies and patient associations.
In this context, the second ‘Greentalk’ will be led by the vice president for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera. The meeting will take place next Wednesday, January 27 at 10 am and will be broadcast through the Muy Interesante Periscope platform and through YouTube. This appointment will be a morning session that will address the strategies of the ministry in the face of climate change in a context hit by the pandemic. In addition, the role of different sectors, awareness of the climate crisis and the main challenges Spain faces in environmental and public health will be analyzed.
You can follow the meeting here
Through the environmental ‘Greentalks’, the aim is to raise awareness in the scientific community and society about the environmental effects that may have an impact on the appearance of new pathologies and new biological threats. The meetings will support professionals in the sector in dealing with environmental risks. This factor takes on even more importance in a context hit by the pandemic, where joining efforts to guarantee people’s health has always been the priority of governments.
The first environmental conference ‘Greentalks’ took place in June and had the participation of the Socialist MEP and member of the Food Safety, Public Health and Environment Commission (ENVI), Nicolás González; the Research Professor at the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Fernando Valladares; the Specialist Pulmonologist Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Carlos Cabrera López; the spokesperson and technical advisor of the Association of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (APEPOC), Nicole Hass and the vice president and director of Patient Advocacy of GSK Spain, Esteban Palomo.
In the first meeting, the experts agreed on the need to take action against climate change, which acts as a vector in the increase in health-related problems. In this sense, they highlighted the importance of taking into account the climatic consequences and preventing social actions with awareness so as not to always have to resort to the health system. On this point, the vice president for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has agreed on numerous occasions, who considers that, in the face of the pandemic, “changing behaviors that reduce climate change is the only vaccine.”
