Fostering sustainable societies and reducing environmental risk factors for improved public health.

Healthy environments are those in which all people have good air quality and access to adequate drinking water, safe sanitation and waste management, which in turn reduce the risks of exposure to pathogens and chemicals. They are also those in which all people can enjoy and have access to enabling and health-promoting settings and spaces.

Healthy environments are inextricably linked to greener, more sustainable societies, including energy policies that reduce the pace of climate change and do not compromise the health of present and future generations. In fact, one quarter of the global burden of disease is attributable to avoidable environmental risk factors such as the chemical, radiological and biological contamination of air, food, water and soil. Climate change threatens to exacerbate all these risks and their impacts on health. Unsustainable policies in sectors such as transportation, energy, waste management, housing, food and agriculture systems and industry contribute to the estimated 7 million deaths from outdoor and indoor air pollution annually. Environmental risk factors are intricately linked to each other and to the social and economic determinants of health.

Healthy environments enable people to make healthy choices through appropriate health and non-health interventions, which can be co-designed with relevant partners.