"Climate Change, Health and Faith: The Challenge Facing the Healthcare Community"

Climate Change, Health and Faith: The Challenge Facing the Healthcare Community - By Dr Graham McAll

Dr McAll will introduce the current understanding of anthropogenic climate change and how it is thought to affect human health.  He aims to encourage those in healthcare to see themselves as uniquely placed to respond to these issues, and encourage the responsibility to care for the earth with hope, remembering the vocation’s respected place in the community. Using examples of good practice, with contributions from discussion, he will discuss how environmental initiatives may be supported in mitigation, adaptation, education and research.

Biodiversity Matters - By Peter Harris

It has now become clear globally that something more than environmental education will be needed to halt the rapid degradation of habitats and their species. Considerable resources have been applied to the challenges of researching the global situation so we now understand quite well just how serious the threat to biodiversity really is. Yet relatively little attention has been given to the drivers of our environmental condition. In order to make progress towards some of the changes we all recognise are needed, the values and choices of human society are being understood as far more significant than previously realised. In our discussion we will examine those choices, and with particular reference to the faith community, consider how they could represent a sign of hope against an increasingly discouraging background.