Climate Action

Purpose

The Climate Action Work Group work group are tackling issues around environmental sustainability, one of the biggest global health priorities.

In terms of eye health, communities which are most susceptible to environmental degradation, tend to carry some of the highest rates of avoidable and permanent blindness. Past President of IAPB, Dr Hannah Faal has emphasised the importance of members’ engagement in environmental sustainability, due to its strong connections with both global and planetary health.

Activities / priorities

The group is working on these eight key areas:

• Create awareness, understanding and buy-in concerning the importance of ES in eye health, with IAPB leadership, members and more widely. A work plan of approaches and activities will be developed.
• Promote and encourage networking within the membership concerning ES in eye health. This to include sharing of relevant evidence, approaches, strategies, case studies, resources and best practice models.
• Encourage research and review of existing evidence concerning ES in eye health.
• Develop ES guidelines and checklists, with guidance for their adoption by context, e.g. relating to procurement, the sustainable use of resources; and also environmental improvement related to eye health at community level.
• Promote the uptake of environmentally friendly and alternative energy sources within eye health systems, especially in those which face erratic power supply.
• Engage IAPB with wider networks seeking to build ES in health (e.g. the ‘Global Green and Healthy Hospitals network’ and various networks in the countries where members are based).
• Develop a simple tool and/or metrics that members and their partners can use to estimate and track their carbon emissions.
• Seek to make General Assembly and other IAPB meetings as environmentally friendly as possible.

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!