286003
Sustainability, climate resilience, and health: Case studies from the department of health and human services
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
: 10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
John Balbus, MD, MPH,
Office of the Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
Executive Order 13514 "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance instructs each Federal agency to develop detailed sustainability plans aimed at reducing energy consumption and environmental wastes, to conduct a climate change vulnerability assessment for the agency, and to develop a climate change adaptation plan. Initial agency adaptation plans were released for public comment in February, 2013. The Department of Health and Human Services recognizes that sustainability initiatives can have significant benefits for health by reducing exposures to toxic pollutants as well as by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thereby limiting the extent of global climate change, with its attendant health risks. Experiences with extreme weather disasters like Hurricanes Irene, Katrina and Sandy among others have also exposed the vulnerability of biomedical research and health care infrastructure, which will increase in a future of increasing climate change. To address these inter-related challenges, the Department of Health and Human Services has brought together sustainability and facilities experts with climate change and health experts to develop an integrated strategy for Sustainability and Climate Resilience. This presentation will describe initial pilot projects at HHS agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, to develop integrated vulnerability assessments and sustainability and adaptation plans. It will describe guidance on infrastructure advancements that lead to improved sustainability and climate resilience, research agendas to increase knowledge of the connections between sustainability measures, climate resilience and human health, and public health interventions to achieve integrated sustainability and climate resilience goals.
Learning Areas:
Environmental health sciences
Program planning
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health
Learning Objectives:
Describe the connections between Executive Order 13514 “"Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance” and public health
Identify potential health benefits of integrating climate resilience in sustainability initiatives
Describe how HHS is working to develop integrated sustainability and climate resilience plans
Keyword(s): Climate Change, Sustainability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am providing expert consultation and leading efforts within HHS on implementing a climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
