Integrating climate and environmental justice into patient care: A case study

Introduction As environmental challenges exert an increasing influence on public health, there is growing recognition of the need to remedy the effects of environmental injustices and to integrate climate change into healthcare [1-5]. At the recent COP28, a climate change conference hosted by the United Nations, countries signed a declaration highlighting their apprehension regarding the adverse effects of climate change on health. They also acknowledged the health benefits stemming from “deep, rapid, and sustained” decreases in emissions of greenhouse gas, encompassing “just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets” [2]. This is particularly relevant to the most vulnerable populations, who often bear the greatest brunt of environmental and climate injustices. The goal of the environmental justice movement is to ensure “equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices” [6].