2024 Planetary Health Summit and 6th Annual Meeting - From Evidence toAction: Confronting Reality: Report

Conference Date/Place: April 16-19, 2024 / Sunway University, Malaysia
Conference Website: https://www.pham2024.com/

The 2024 Planetary Health Summit/6th Planetary Health Alliance Annual Meeting (PHAM2024) was held at Sunway University in Malaysia. This was the first time to be held the meetingin Asia. Over 1,000 participants from 63 countries gathered for four days of discussions on how
we can collaborate, confront, and take action on global challenges. More than 100 presentersshared their issues, case studies of their activities, what is needed to take action, and theirvisions for the future in various sessions, and more than 120 poster presentations were made.
During four days of the conference, there were three sessions proposed by Planetary
Health Alliance Japan Hub members, as well as heated discussion sessions on many areas (suchas the use of AI, new forms of financial systems, mental health topics, etc.). Then, theconference's final day was dedicated to discussing how we need to take action on global
planetary health issues. The following is a report on the content of the discussions.

1Plenary Session: Breaking Down Silos - Systemic Change for Planetary
Health (April 17)

In this session, as the lead speaker, Dr. Koki TAKAKI from the Environmental Health
Department of Japan's Ministry of the Environment gave a presentation on "Japan’s
Environmental Administration and Planetary Health". Dr Takaki introduced the "Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) implementation Guiding Principles Revised Edition (2023)" and"Sixth Basic Environment Plan (scheduled for 2024)," which include descriptions of "planetaryhealth" in the Japanese government's major plans. Also, he introduced the revision of the"Climate Change Adaptation Law (2023)" which is the cross-ministry to improve heat stroke
countermeasures. From Malaysia, Prof. Asma Ismail, Professor Emeritus of the Malaysian
Academy of Sciences, introduced the "National Planetary Health Action Plan" to be completed
in July 2024, with a strong message about the importance of breaking down silos. Tan Sri Abdul
Wahid Omar, Chairman of Bursa Berhad Malaysia, spoke from the business side about theimportance of comprehending and sequencing the various frameworks for sustainable
development and the importance of cooperation between countries and companies beyond silos.
Dr. Garry Aslanyan, WHO Special Programme on Research and Training on Tropical Diseases,
spoke about the difficulty of generalizing the terminology but the importance of never giving
up. The panellists also emphasized the importance of human resource development (education)
to take action in Planetary Health.
Through these discussions, we realized that when we think about the current state of2the earth, we don't have time to get caught up in the various phenomena that are unfolding ineach area and we need to move now. This silo exists not only in specialized areas but also
among layers of government, business, and education, and the session taught us that we should
reconsider our original purpose and reconstruct these strong fixed concepts.

Session: Indigenous & Local Perspectives (April 17th)

The concept of planetary health as currently discussed has been inspired by the Lancet paper,
presumably reflecting Western view, so to speak. Since the bottom line of planetary health isto reconsider the relationship between human society and the earth (environment andecosystem), there may be differences between the “planetary health view” of West and theEast. Recent discussion on the worldview of so-called indigenous peoples evolved along thisline. In this session, four speakers discussed the human-nature relationship in Asia andOceania. Prof. Tuan of Can Tho Univ. reported on the importance of water and rivers to thepeople in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and how climate change is already beginning toaffect them. Ms. Daniele, an international journalist based in Malaysia, is from an ethnic3

minority group who pointed out that both peninsular and island regions of Malaysia havecustoms that self-regulate the use of environmental resources, and that these customs tend tobe lost due to the lack of documents describing them. Prof. Tadokoro, Toyo Univ, introduced
his observation that eel fishing in Papua New Guinea is successful when the target eels areaddressed as a personable object. Prof. Capon of Monash University introduced an exampleof how the concept of planetary health is being used in an ongoing urban redevelopment
project in eastern Australia, incorporating the indigenous view of nature. Exchange ofopinions among the speakers and floor participants followed, reiterating their attention to theexistence of people who carefully watch over nature and the importance of sharing suchinformation widely.

Session: Healthy Cities Initiative (April 18th)

In this session, we learned from healthy cities policies and practices and discussed contributionsof locally based initiatives to planetary health. First, Prof. Keiko Nakamura of Tokyo Medicaland Dental University introduced Healthy Cities, which has been developed to create urban
environments supportive of the health of residents. Hon. Eelco Erenberg, Deputy Mayor ofUtrecht in the Netherlands, introduced the transformation of a car-centered city that had
problems with air and noise pollution into "The 10-minute city." There were many questions
about a significant transition from a motorized society to bicycle transportation. Participantslearned the importance of vision sharing and the commitment to promote a solid plan. Hon.
Yoshiyuki Sakurai, Mayor of Kameyama City, Mie Prefecture, and Chair of the Japan Chapterof the Alliance of Healthy Cities, reported on an exchange program by Healthy City Mayors ofJapan and Europe, supported by WHO European and the Western Pacific regions, to visit
examples in blue and green zones. Measures aimed at preserving biodiversity that respects
Kameyama City's rich natural environment were also introduced. Prof. Saori Kashima of4

Hiroshima University introduced examples from a highly aged society with the increased
number of disasters. They are from Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture; Taito City, Tokyo; andHigashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. She talked about the importance of collaboration
among partners, including governments, the private sector, local communities, agriculturalproducers, health centers, and universities, as well as the development of the Planetary Healthy
Aging Index. Dr. Rohaida binti Ismail from the Institute of Environmental Health, Ministry ofHealth Malaysia spoke about the eco-health approach. She introduced the promotion of resilient
health services based on evidence on climate change, environmental conditions, and healthoutcomes. Prof. Andrew Kiyu, University of Sarawak, Malaysia, summarized the session.
Policies and activities of Healthy Cities contribute to planetary health. Collaboration among
partners, emphasis on ecosystem health, and the significance of community activities wereconfirmed. Further efforts from the local settings are anticipated.

“Kuala Lumpur Action Plan" and "Planetary Health Roadmap and Action
Plan" (April 19)
On the last day of the conference, the "Planetary
Health Roadmap and Action Plan" wascompiled as a proposal and a declaration wasissued on the implementation of this action planas the "Kuala Lumpur Action Plan. This action
plan was discussed by over 100 people fromaround the world over a year. Based on theresearch and scientific evidence to date, theaction plan outlines specific actions that weneed to take globally to address the current
global crisis, protect ecosystems and humanhealth, and build a safe, equitable, andprosperous future for all people. It includes
action plans for three key change areas: global
governance, education, and business, andoutlines communication and advocacy for theseactions. The action plan will be implemented immediately, and its implementation will bemonitored around the world, with a report on progress to be presented at the next annual
meeting in the Netherlands (scheduled for fall 2025). Currently, we are calling for collaborators
on six key actions 1) measuring, 2) communicating, 3) educating, 4) building governance, 5)balancing business and Planetary Health, and 6) mainstreaming planetary health along thisaction plan. More information can be found at the following website, and we look forward toyour participation.
5

Kuala Lumpur Call to Action on Planetary Healthhttps://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/kuala-lumpur-call-to-action
Planetary Health Roadmap and Action Plan
https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/roadmap

Conclusions
Compared to the previous conference in 2022 (held at Harvard University in Boston), PHAM
2024 was more attended by people from various backgrounds, including financiers, bankers,
pharmaceuticals, IT, and medical/health professionals. We heard that this was more on-site
participation than the conference office had expected. In addition, many undergraduate andgraduate students attended the conference and actively asked questions at each session. Throughthis PHAM 2024, we could sense increasing interest among young researchers and great social
movements in Planetary Health. In this movement, we need to work together to take actual
action to tackle the various global issues we face. Then, PHAM2024 came to a close with apledge to implement such actions and report the progress at the next conference in 2025. The
Planetary Health Alliance Japan Hub members look forward to your participation in putting thisaction plan into practice together.
May 25, 2024
Planetary Health Alliance Japan HUB
https://phajapan.jp/Chiho WATANABE
Keiko NAKAMURA
Saori KASHIMA6