Interdisciplinary Program Office (IPO) Sustainability Seminar Series Spring 2023
- Planetary Health: A New Paradigm for the Era of COVID-19 and Climate Change
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended not just human health but also every sector of society. However, other evolving ecological crises, such as climate change and biodiversity collapse, are also beginning to threaten our economies, societies, and overall collective wellbeing. To tackle these challenges, a new paradigm is needed – planetary health, which is an integrated positive vision for the advancement of health of both people and the planet. In recent years, planetary health has grown into an exciting transdisciplinary space for scientific inquiry, cross-sector advocacy, and policy action with strong commitment to systems thinking and intergenerational equity. This session will: introduce the concept of planetary health, its major themes, frameworks, and issues; present updates on developments in the field especially in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; and explore emerging opportunities and proposed solutions that will advance human flourishing within the planet’s limits.
Renzo Guinto, MD DrPH is the Associate Professor of the Practice of Global Public Health and Inaugural Director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine in the Philippines. Recently, he was also the Chief Planetary Health Scientist and Co-Founder of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a member of the National Panel of Technical Experts of the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines, and convener of Planetary Health Philippines – a community of Filipino scholars and practitioners for advancing the new discipline of planetary health. An Obama Foundation Asia-Pacific Leader and Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, Renzo has served as consultant for various organizations including the World Health Organization, World Bank, and Health Care Without Harm, and been a member of several international committees, advisory boards, and networks including five Lancet Commissions and the editorial advisory board of The Lancet Planetary Health. Renzo obtained his Doctor of Public Health from Harvard University and Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines Manila, and received further training from Oxford, Copenhagen, Western Cape, and East-West Center (Hawaii). He has travelled to and lectured in nearly 60 countries and 100 universities across the world; published more than 150 reports and articles in scientific journals, books, and popular media; and directed and produced short films that communicate the message of planetary healing to the world. In 2020, he was included by Tatler Magazine in its Gen.T List of 400 leaders of tomorrow who are shaping Asia’s future. In 2022, Renzo was named one of The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines for his contributions to health and medicine and for pioneering the field of planetary health in the country.