Climate Action

Purpose

The Climate Action Working Group works to provide leadership and advocacy for increased adoption and action on priority matters relating to climate action in eye health for IAPB Members and other stakeholders.

There is a great political drive now for the eye health sector to push the climate action agenda forward. The United Nations has declared climate change as an emergency and the World Health Organization has stated that climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health. More recently, in 2021, the Lancet Commission on Global Eye Health added Planetary Health as a key component to improving quality of eye care.

Strategies

The Climate Action Working Group (CAWG) will prioritise the following overarching strategies:

1. Create awareness, understanding and buy-in concerning the importance of climate action and eye health, with IAPB leadership, members and more widely
2. Create greater ownership/ buy-in of climate action initiatives with IAPB leadership, members and more widely
3. Promote and encourage networking within the eye health sector concerning climate action in eye health, including links at the ‘community level’*, through sharing of relevant evidence, approaches, strategies, case studies, resources, and best practice models
4. Develop, collate, curate and share resources through mechanisms such as the IAPB web page and Communities of Practice
5. Share effective practices and innovations relating to day-to-day work and design of eye care services that can reduce carbon footprint.
6. Provide technical support as needed.
7. Engage IAPB with wider networks to build a broader alignment with climate action in health (e.g. the ‘Global Green and Healthy Hospitals network and various networks in the countries where members are based)
8. Encourage research and review of existing evidence concerning climate action in eye health.
9. Seek to make IAPB and its events as environmentally sustainable as possible
10. Develop annual workplans for achieving CAWG strategies, and report progress to IAPB board and members

* ‘Community level’, refers to a Climate Action principle that improving eye health by addressing climate change is a public health responsibility.

Meetings

The Work Group will meet by teleconference at least twice a year, or face to face where possible. Opportunities for face-to-face meetings, where possible, will be sought around other events that may already see the attendance of the Work Group members.

Membership of the Climate Action Work Group is open to all IAPB members engaged in climate action.

All Work Group members are expected to actively contribute their expertise and knowledge to ensure the group meets its stated objectives.

For more information on the Climate Action Work Group and how to get involved, get in touch!

Press Release

Global Sight Alliance declares Climate Emergency and Calls for Urgent Action