The 6th NTS Asia Consortium Annual Conference – Keynote Address

There are a number of theories that attempt to explain the start and the spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One of them points to environmental degradation as a plausible cause. The link between environment health and human health is captured in the planetary health concept. Proposed by the medical field, the concept argues that humanity will only thrive within a healthy planet. Placing the health of the planet as a pre-condition for human survival calls for the minimisation of policy trade-offs. To this end, the adoption of the planetary health concept which embodies systems-level thinking can likely facilitate the formulation of synergised actions across sectors.

Recognising converging risks that pose threat to the health of the planet becomes an important starting point. Aside from existing environmental issues such as pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss, other activities such as wars, international trade, urban development, pandemic response, humanitarian action, among others, likewise affect the environment. These need to be managed simultaneously to mitigate their overall impacts on planetary health.

Against this backdrop, the 6^th NTS-Asia Consortium Annual Conference brings together members of the Consortium to exchange their views on the different aspects of planetary health across countries in Asia. These include, among others, the different interpretations of and responses to the concept in each country, specific risks to planetary health in each country, and existing and/or hypothetical measures to operationalise the concept in each country.

This Conference aims to engage members of the Consortium and the wider audience in conversations on planetary health and present the different perceptions of opportunities and challenges in adopting the concept in the region.