A new partnership among the Rio Conventions and the public health community would also provide an impetus to strengthen the capacity of the globe’s public health infrastructure to respond to a wide range of health risks and opportunities. New health risks from global environmental change highlight the need for a strong infrastructure for public health at both local and global scales. Building the capacity to recognize and respond effectively to the complex interactions between social, economic and environmental conditions, which can impact positively or negatively on human health, will have important spillover effects for public health more generally. This seems especially likely in areas such as infectious diseases and disaster preparedness, where awareness of ecosystem services and function has already demonstrated important insights that can significantly inform disease prevention policies and develop capacity. This work underscores the importance of collecting and sharing information to develop early warning systems for droughts and floods and better understand the causes and effects of biodiversity loss, climate change, desertification and land degradation. Addressing these objectives, the health, space and environmental sectors have developed a number of tools in this area that look at climate change, desertification and land use variables to develop early warning systems for disease tracking. With advances in technology (for example satellite imagery and geographic information system (GIS) mapping), scientists are starting to address the complex causal relationships among ecosystem change, climate change, biodiversity and health. These global problems require coordinated efforts and data sharing among the conservation, veterinary, health, development and remote sensing communities, among others, at all levels.
5.3.3 Monitoring and evaluating progress across health, environment and sustainable development Among the preparations for Rio+20, sustainable development goals are being discussed in many forums. An overaching goal is the need to address, in a balanced manner, the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Concerns focus on key themes where advances are sorely needed: jobs, energy, cities, food, water, oceans and disasters. These themes are interlinked. Addressing them will address the three dimensions of sustainability. They would respond to the needs of the Rio Conventions, and they would contribute to enhancing health.
50 Our Planet, Our Health, Our Future