ABSTRACT
Climate change is a physical sign of a planetary malaise. The Earth’s most
destructive species (humans) have organized into colonies (economies) and
by sheer weight of numbers (population) are damaging the ecosystems on
which all life depends. Although there is great interest in how climate change
will affect human health much less attention has been paid to the causes of
climate change (destructive economies and population growth) and how tack-
ling the underlying causes will affect health. This is unfortunate since there are
potentially large benefits for public health through the implementation of poli-
cies to prevent further climate change. These policies require an international
framework based on equity and justice, such as Contraction and Convergence.
Policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could bring important reductions
