27
Jan

The 2022 Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC), themed "The World We Want: Actions Towards a Sustainable, Fairer and Healthier Society", aims to take a long view by focusing on the megatrends that will shape the rest of this century and the complex interplay between them, including how they are already reshaping our global health landscape.

The converging crises of climate, biodiversity, environment and health are megatrends that present current and future threats to our planet and population. The PMAC 2022 sub-theme 2, "Scaling up Efforts to Tackle the Climate Crisis and Building Forward Greener", coordinated by SIGHT (the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation), FHI360, WHO, World Bank, and USAID, will discuss these converging crises, and highlight the opportunities for actors from all sectors joining in accelerated efforts, securing human and planetary health prosperity.

Under this sub-theme, a high-level virtual session will highlight the actions needed to tackle these converging crises, mobilize political and private sector support, develop new strategies to re-invigorate commitments to multilateral partnerships, and build collaborative partnerships between governments, non-governmental actors, and their citizens. The session will discuss where the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted pathways for a more resilient and green recovery, aligning our efforts towards the 2030 Agenda, avoiding a return to "business as usual", and environmentally destructive investment patterns and activities. Successfully tackling these converging crises would reduce the risk of existing and new health threats, such as emerging zoonotic diseases, respiratory diseases and heat exposure, creating a more promising, healthy and equal future for coming generations.

In addition, the high-level virtual session aims to leverage momentum and impacts from two upcoming international events: UNFCCC COP26 in November 2021 and the 'Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity' - the 50th anniversary of the UN Conference on the Human Environment in June 2022. The plenary session will host politicians and decision-makers, academia, and the private sector for high-level, stimulating discussions and identifying action points promoting positive environment-, biodiversity-, climate-, and health outcomes.