Chapter 4: Health promotion in the Anthropocene: the ecological determinants of health

Human health is inextricably linked to the health of the natural environment. In this chapter, we focus on ecological determinants of health, including the urgent and critical threats to the natural environment, and opportunities for health promotion arising from the human health co-benefits of actions to protect the health of the planet.

We characterise ecological determinants in the Anthropocene and provide a sobering snapshot of planetary health science, particularly the momentous climate change health impacts in Australia. We highlight Australia’s position as a major fossil fuel producer and exporter, and a country lacking cohesive and timely emissions reduction policy.

We offer a roadmap for action, with four priority directions, and point to a scaffold of guiding approaches — planetary health, Indigenous people’s knowledge systems, ecological economics, health co-benefits and climate-resilient development. Our situation requires a paradigm shift, and this demands a recalibration of health promotion education, research and practice in Australia over the coming decade.