3.F. Round table: Legal action & capacity building: essential for climate action to protect and promote public health
Authors:   Organised by: Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health (Netherlands), ASPHER, EUPHA-ENV, -GH, -HIA, -LAW, Faculty of Public Health (UK), Global Consortium for Climate and Health Education,   Chair persons: Laurent Chambaud (France), Mary Codd (Ireland)
Published: October 2024

The climate crisis is the single biggest threat to global health, peace and security, a crisis multiplier, and a significant driver of health inequalities within and between countries. In many areas of public health policy, legal action and litigation have delivered significant and long-lasting impacts. Court action is a strong domain of legal policy and practice to address climate change and related air pollution in many countries, and increasingly in international courts and tribunals. Examples include the 2021 landmark UK Coroners Report on the asthma-related death of Ella Kissi-Debrah, the 2023 UN General Assembly Request for an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on states’ obligations to address climate change, and the 2024 European Court of Human Rights decision in Klimanseniorinnen v. Switzerland. Climate litigation also creates opportunities for public scrutiny and debate by raising awareness of inaction or harm caused by governments or private sector polluters, generating wider community mobilisation for action. Since 2021, the EUPHA Law and Public Health Section, Faculty of Public Health (UK), Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, Global Network for Academic Public Health, ASPHER and other partners have collaborated to build ethicolegal competence and capacity of public health professionals for climate action. Initiatives have also included research, advocacy, and resource development, and exploring opportunities for legal action and litigation, including at the International Conference on Strategic Litigation and Public Health (Liverpool, 2023). The roundtable will present key findings from an evaluation of the course on climate change organised by the ASPHER and the Global Consortium on Health and Climate Education (GCHCE), and learnings and feedback from the publication ‘From analysis to action: climate change litigation. A guide for public health professionals’, which was launched at the 16th European Public Health Conference. The expert panel will also reflect on whether the nature of current educational materials, means and methods in curriculum and training initiatives are effective, appropriate, adequate, and sufficient. Should climate change be part of One Health and Planetary Health programmes rather than a distinct entity? What is the role of, and what are the opportunities for, public health professionals to be engaged in climate litigation? What are the gaps and opportunities through strategic networking with environmental and legal experts, and affected communities? The roundtable will be interactive and invite input and insights from the participants to explore opportunities to further advance the agenda.

Key messages

• Public health professionals have a key and increasing role in climate law and litigation: interdisciplinary collaboration is essential.

• Public health professionals have multiple avenues for capacity building on opportunities to address climate and environmental impacts on public health through law.

Speakers/Panelists

David Patterson

University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Farhang Tahzib

Faculty of Public Health, Haywards heath, UK

Liz Green

Public Health Wales, Wrexham, UK

Ana-Catarina Pinho-Gomes

University College London, London, UK