D 09 - The Pathfinder Initiative: Pathways to a Healthy, Zero Carbon Future

Urgent and decisive action is needed to keep within the 1.5 - 2° C target of the Paris Agreement. This session will discuss the work of the Pathfinder Initiative (including The Lancet Pathfinder Commission) that aims to increase motivation and capacity for such action by showing how well-designed policies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest can yield multiple benefits for the health of people and planet. For example: reductions in air pollution from the use of clean, renewable energy and transformation of our food and transport systems would reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, including obesity and undernutrition; and conserving natural spaces could improve physical and mental health while protecting the Earth’s essential life support systems.

Moreover, rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions would greatly reduce human health risks from climate change, considered the greatest health challenge of the 21st Century. The Pathfinder Initiative synthesizes evidence about effective strategies to achieve a healthy net zero economy, and works with partner organizations (OECD, C40 Cities, CDP, Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research) to disseminate evidence on the development and implementation of multi-sectoral actions to accelerate progress towards a healthy net zero economy.

This session will discuss how a focus on the health (co) benefits of climate action can help to motivate more ambitious cuts in emissions and the lessons that can be learnt from implementation of climate change mitigation policies in different settings.