“People sometimes ask me if I'm optimistic, and sometimes they ask me if I've got hope. And I think there is a difference between the two. I mean, optimism is the kind of feeling that the probability is it's all going to be fine. And hope is the feeling that there's still a good chance that things could work out well. And I think I'm more at the kind of hope that the optimism that, you know, we have so much knowledge within our grasp. And we have so much technology that we could use. But it isn't just about technology, it's also about values. What kind of values, and what kind of society do we want to live in? What kind of values do we have collectively as a community, and as a society? And that's a much more contested field. I do think that we do need to really raise that as an issue in society. What kind of society do we want to live in? And what kind of future do we want for ourselves? But also for those that will come after us? And I think that's a crucial debate that we should be having now. I think this big issue is what are the values that drive our society? What kind of a future do we want? And I'd like to see much more of a debate in public discussion about that.”

Andy Haines was formerly a family doctor and Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL. He developed an interest in climate change and health in the 1990’s and was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2nd and 3rd assessment exercises and review editor for the health chapter in the 5th assessment. He was Director (formerly Dean) of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2001- October 2010. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Panel for the 2013 WHO World Health Report, the Rockefeller /Lancet Commission on Planetary Health (2014-15) and the European Academies Science Advisory Council working group on climate change and health (2018-19). He currently co-chairs the InterAcademy Partnership (140 science academies worldwide) working group on climate change and health and is also co-chairing the Lancet Pathfinder Commission on health in the zero-carbon economy.  He has published many papers on topics such as the effects of environmental change on health and the health co-benefits of low carbon policies. His current research focuses on climate change mitigation, sustainable healthy food systems and complex urban systems for sustainability. He was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2022.

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