Director of the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Prof Lora Fleming, gave evidence this week on the subject of Planetary Health at the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee. With Prof Howie Frumkin and Prof Sir Andy Haines also on the panel giving evidence, a wide range of topics on the interconnections between human health and the environment were discussed. Some of the key issues covered included food systems and urban environments. The panel discussed the importance of considering both health risks and benefits associated with environmental conditions, and the opportunities afforded by natural environments to support and promote health and wellbeing.

The Commons EAC is a Select Committee, cutting across government departments, with a role to “consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets.”

You can watch a recording of the meeting here, via parliamentlive.tv