Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Planetary Health Team has presented a policy recommendation titled, “Coming Together to Protect and Foster: Promoting Innovative and Sustainable Planetary Health in the Asia-Pacific Region to Build Resilient Health Systems.”

The year 2023 marks fifty years of friendship and cooperation between Japan and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and a commemorative summit to further elevate Japan-ASEAN cooperation is planned for December. At the 2020 Japan-ASEAN Summit Meeting, the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases was established with close cooperation with each ASEAN country to serve as a stronghold for steady progress on the vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and on measures to protect the people of this region from the threat of infectious disease. In 2024, Japan will host the Tenth Pacific Islanders Leaders Meeting (PALM10), which will explore the themes of climate change, sustainable oceans, and sustainable and resilient economic development. Aiming to achieve stability and prosperity in the Pacific Island region, PALM10 will feature a summit-level discussion on potential methods of addressing that countries in this region share, such as the fact that they are small and scattered across wide areas of ocean; that they are distant from major international markets; and that they are vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. At the G7 Hiroshima Summit hosted by Japan earlier this year, it became clear that it will be vital to deepen cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region to address global-level issues and achieve regional stability.

Given these circumstances, addressing the human health impacts of phenomena like climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss in the Asia-Pacific region will require actions to be taken with a planetary health perspective based on the three main directives described below.

1. Make the planetary health perspective a foundational part of every initiative
2. Build health systems that are based on a planetary health perspective
3. Promote collaboration that is based on a planetary health perspective

For details, please see the PDF linked below.