Editorial on International Climate Report

Overview

On October 22, 2018 the journal of The British Medical Association, BJM, published an opinion piece by PSE’s board president Dr. Adam Law. The piece was co-authored with three England-based physicians, that responds to the dire climate change timelines described in the widely publicized October 8 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Acknowledging the report’s 12-year time frame for action to avoid catastrophic climate impacts, the authors point to physicians’ “strong record of steering society to make difficult, unpopular, and at times expensive choices for the sake of public health and safety.” Such efforts have led to changes that include improved sanitation, water treatment, and air quality, the authors say, and they call for immediate, emergency-scale leadership from doctors, including promoting divestiture from fossil fuels and speaking out as role models.