On April 8, 2021, the third “Climate Wakeup” (Reveil Climat) conference was held online. A monthly webinar organized by the Coalition Française des Fondations pour le Climat (Coalition of French Foundations for the Climate, or CFFC), this latest rendezvous looked at the impact of climate change on health.
Launched in November 2020 by the Centre Français des Fondations (French Foundation Center), the goal of the CFFC, which includes Fondation de France, is to mobilize philanthropists around climate issues. To explore these questions in depth, the coalition brought together over 60 participants for a webinar led by Sandrine Maisano on health and climate.
Examining the relationship between the environment and health security seemed particularly pertinent, given that Covid-19 was making life miserable for the entire planet. Because how can one not see the connection between the current health crisis and the environmental breakdown, principally caused by human activity?
Better understand the impact of the environment on humanity
Research is essential to a better understanding of the risks incurred by populations due to their living conditions. Which is why it is the basis of Fondation de France’s Public Health and Environment Program. Fanny Ledonné, head of the program, stepped in to remind us how important it is to support targeted research projects that are in touch with regional realities. Some of the supported projects include Climathes in Grenoble, which studies the impact of temperature change on natal and perinatal health, and a project in Besançon where a team of researchers measure the effects of agricultural pesticide use on childhood cancers.
Develop a global approach to health
Faced with the inherent link between the environment and health risks, it is more urgent than ever to develop “a systematic approach to health,” in the words of Marie-Stéphane Maradeix, member of the Coalition’s steering committee and representative of the Daniel et Nina Carasso Foundation. This global approach to health, which takes into account the health of humans and animals, as well as the state of the environment, appears to be the one best adapted to our current health challenges.
Noting that 75% of emerging illnesses in humans are vector-borne diseases that originate with animals, Thierry Lefrançois of the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement,) also insists on the need for a better understanding of the pathogenic interconnections between humans, fauna and flora, especially on a regional level, in order to construct socio-ecological systems that are capable of slowing the apparition of diseases.
Philanthropists and researchers: united for mobilization!
This concept of global health, attentive to human health, biodiversity and the environment in general (natural, geographic, economic and social), is the focus of a new international foundation, One Sustainable Health for All (Une Santé Durable Pour Tous). This initiative, born during the Covid-19 crisis, brings specialists from all fields together with philanthropists. Represented by its secretary general, Benoît Miribel, who is also president of the French Foundation Center, its 2022 goal is to produce recommendations for developing a holistic approach to human health. International working groups have already been organized.
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