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Briefing Room

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 04, 2015

Fact Sheet: Health Educators Climate Commitment

Obama Administration Announces 48 Additional Public Health, Medical, and Nursing Schools from 15 Countries Commit to Train Their Students to Address the Health Impacts of Climate Change, Increasing the Total Number of Schools Committing to 118 Around the World

Climate change is a global challenge that demands a global response, and President Obama is committed to leading the fight. That is why, today, in Paris, the White House will announce that more than 45 additional medical, public health, and nursing schools around the world have signed onto the Health Educators Climate Commitment to ensure their students, the next generation of health professionals, are prepared, through education and training, to effectively address the health impacts of climate change, and to ensure that the world has a cadre of climate change and health experts. With today’s announcement we are expanding what was previously a U.S. initiative, launched at the White House in April 2015, to a global effort. The 48 new partners joining today increases the total number of schools signing on to 118 and expands participation to 14 additional countries: 

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • Grenada
  • Ecuador
  • Finland
  • France
  • India
  • Malaysia
  • Mexico
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom

In addition to helping to recruit peer institutions, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will announce the creation of a Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education to carry forward the Health Educators Climate Commitment to action. In addition to continuing to expand the reach of the commitment, the Consortium will be a forum through which Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Nursing around the world share best scientific and educational practices, and curricula; develop core sets of knowledge for graduates; and foster the development of global academic partnerships to support training of health professionals and climate and health specialists throughout the world, particularly in under-resourced countries.

Climate change is no longer a problem for future generations – we are already feeling its effects in every corner of our nation and across the globe, which threatens our economic and national security and our health. No country is immune, and therefore all countries must act together, and that is what the Paris climate negotiations are all about. Today’s commitments reinforce not only how vast the impacts of climate change are, but also the opportunity to join together and address this problem.

Globally, health professionals are recognizing the growing impact that the changing climate is having on people’s health, from extreme heat and life-threatening storms, to the length of allergy seasons and the intensity of smog episodes, to the availability of safe water and food, to the distribution and abundance of pathogens and their vectors. They are taking action to build resilience in the health sector, and in sectors that affect the determinants of health. And they are working to identify the large health co-benefits that accrue when communities transition to clean energy.

HEALTH EDUCATORS CLIMATE COMMITMENT

Deans of the following schools have signed onto the Global Health Educators Climate Commitment and pledged:

As leaders responsible for educating the health professionals of tomorrow, we are keenly aware of our obligation to ensure that they are fully prepared to address all health risks, including those resulting from the impacts of climate change. Our future health professionals must have the competencies needed to address the health needs of our communities and our patients, both now and into the foreseeable future. These competencies must be based on the best available science, and benefit from sharing best scientific and educational practices.

We commit to ensuring that we train the next generation of health professionals to effectively address the health impacts of climate change.

We commit to strengthening the knowledge base in the area of climate and health from a position of the best science and academic rigor.

New Schools Committing Today

  • Brock University, Department of Health Sciences, Canada
  • Brown University, School of Public Health
  • Cardiff University, School of Medicine, Wales
  • Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Urban Health Program
  • Concordia University, Department of Public Health, Canada
  • Dalhousie University, Faculty of Health Professions, Canada
  • Dartmouth College, The Dartmouth Institute for Health and Clinical Practice
  • Ecole des Hautes Edutes en Sante Publique, France
  • Indian Institute of Public Health – Bhubaneshwar, India
  • La Trobe University, School of Psychology and Public Health, Australia
  • Lakehead University, Department of Health Sciences, Canada
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
  • National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Mexico 
  • National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
  • Ohio State University, College of Public Health
  • Oregon Health and Science University
  • Portland State University, School of Public Health
  • Public Health Foundation, Indian Institute of Public Health, India
  • Queen’s University, Department of Public Health Sciences, Canada
  • Ryerson University, School of Occupational and Public Health, Canada
  • Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Canada
  • St. George’s University, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Grenada
  • Temple University, College of Public Health
  • Tufts University, School of Medicine and Public Health
  • Uniformed Services University, Public Health Program
  • United Nations University, International School of Global Health, Malaysia
  • Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Escuela de Salud Publica, Ecuador
  • Universite de Montreal, School of Public Health, Canada
  • Universite de Recherche, Institut National de la Rechere Scientifique, Canada
  • University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
  • University of Alberta, School of Public Health, Canada
  • University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Canada
  • University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Finland
  • University of Geneva, Institute of Global Health, Switzerland
  • University of Georgia, College of Public Health
  • University of Guelph, Master of Public Health, Canada
  • University of Hong Kong, School of Public Health, China
  • University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health
  • University of Kwazulu-Natal, School of Nursing and Public Health, South Africa
  • University of Minnesota, School of Public Health
  • University of Northern British Columbia, School of Health Sciences, Canada
  • University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine, Australia
  • University of Ottawa, School of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Preventive Medicine, Canada
  • University of Saskatchewan, School of Public Health, Canada
  • University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health
  • University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy, Canada
  • University of Waterloo, School of Public Health and Health Systems, Canada
  • Western University, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, Canada

Previous Schools Committing

  • Boston University School of Public Health
  • Colorado State University, School of Public Health
  • Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
  • Des Moines University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Drexel University, School of Public Health
  • Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
  • Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
  • Florida A&M University, Public Health Program
  • Florida International University, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work
  • George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health
  • Georgetown University, School of Medicine
  • Georgia Regents University, MPH Program
  • Georgia Southern University, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
  • Georgia State University, School of Public Health
  • Harvard Medical School
  • Harvard, T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Howard University, College of Medicine
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • Indiana University, School of Public Health
  • Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing
  • New York University, College of Nursing
  • New York University, College of Global Public Health 
  • Pennsylvania State University, MPH Program
  • Rutgers University, School of Public Health
  • Saint Louis University, College for Public Health and Social Justice
  • Stony Brook University, Program in Public Health
  • SUNY Downstate Medical Center, School of Public Health
  • Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health
  • Thomas Jefferson University, School of Population Health, MPH Program
  • Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
  • UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health
  • University of Alabama-Birmingham, School of Public Health
  • University of California-Berkeley, School of Public Health
  • University of California-Davis, School of Medicine
  • University of California-San Francisco, School of Medicine
  • University of California-San Francisco, School of Nursing
  • University of Colorado, School of Public Health
  • University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Public Health and Nutrition, Finland
  • University of Florida, College of Public Health and Health Professions
  • University of Iowa, College of Public Health
  • University of Louisville, School of Public Health and Information Sciences
  • University of Maryland, School of Nursing
  • University of Maryland, School of Public Health
  • University of Memphis, School of Public Health
  • University of Miami, Department of Public Health Sciences
  • University of Michigan, School of Nursing
  • University of Michigan School of Public Health
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Medicine
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Nursing
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health
  • University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health
  • University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health
  • University of Northern Colorado, School of Public Health
  • University of Oklahoma, Health Sciences Center, College of Public Health
  • University of Pennsylvania, Master of Public Health Program
  • University of Pennsylvania, Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine
  • University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
  • University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health
  • University of Washington, School of Nursing
  • University of Washington, School of Public Health
  • University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine and Public Health
  • Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine
  • Walden University, Master of Public Health Program
  • Walden University, School of Nursing
  • Washington State University, College of Medicine
  • Washington State University, College of Nursing
  • West Virginia University, School of Public Health
  • Yale University, School of Public Health
  • Yale University, School of Nursing