A cyclist breaking the vicious cycle of climate change

Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, PhD

Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum is a Scottish epidemiologist and public health expert who has worked extensively on the health impacts of climate change. He is currently the Head for the Climate Change and Health Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO), where he leads a team of experts in researching and advising on the health risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

For the past 20 years, he has contributed significantly to the field of Climate Change and Health, specifically focusing on the impacts of climate change on infectious diseases, food and water security, and also investigating the health impacts of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts. One of his goals is to try to make quantitative estimates about how much global health suffers from the impact of climate change. He has also attempted to tackle health inequalities and has been involved in researching the health benefits of low-carbon emissions and sustainable energy development strategies.

Dr. Campbell-Lendrum has worked on several global health initiatives and research projects, including the Global Burden of Disease project and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In addition, he worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he led research projects on climate change and health in low and middle-income countries. Moreover, he has worked for the UK Department of Health and the UK Health Protection Agency, and has advised a range of international organizations on climate change and health issues. He has also been involved in developing and implementing public health interventions to address climate change-related health risks.

Dr. Diarmid is the author of approximately 100 peer-reviewed journal papers, reports and book chapters on the topic of climate change and health, being a lead author not only on 3 IPCC reports, but also on the first health report to the United Nations Climate Negotiations. He is widely recognized as an expert in this field, having received awards for his work for the outstanding contributions in the field of public health.

Diarmid has been an agent of change playing a key role in raising awareness of the health risks and opportunities associated with climate change at the global level . By making use of his passion for cycling, he rode his bike from Geneva to Paris for WHO’s 2nd Global Conference on Health and Climate Change in 2016 and, 5 years later he rode from Geneva to London to hand over the “2021 COP26 Special Report – The Health Argument for Climate Action” to a group of pediatricians cycling to Glasgow.

His “stubborn optimism despite all evidence” is what always gives him the fuel to do what he does, and hopefully there will always be great people that can keep fighting, that can keep working to make others people see that the future is now, that there is no Planet B, and so we must can act to protect what we care the most about - our Home.