About us

Dorothea Baltruks, Head of Research and Policy

„A societal debate on how health and wellbeing can be created within planetary boundaries and what the health system should do and should not do to achieve this, is urgently needed but so far lacking.“

Lena Tischler, Project and event management

„The multidimensional crises of our time require new approaches. To accelerate the long-overdue socio-ecological transformation, we need planetary health as a vision for the future across all policy areas, rather than political silo thinking.“

Miriam Meschede, Research Associate

“Promoting human health means protecting the health of our planet. Environmental protection and health promotion must be consistently considered in all policy areas in order to bring about urgent changes for planetary health.”

Annkathrin von der Haar, Research Associate

„Protecting and improving health, reducing social inequalities and mitigating climate change — these goals have a shared agenda and require a policy that is systemically and pragmatically interlinked across sectors.“

Sophie Gepp, Research Associate

„Political, social, and economic processes and structures must therefore be designed and governed nationally, as well as internationally, with a focus on safeguarding health and well-being for present and future generations while also preserving the habitability of the planet.“

Katharina Wabnitz, Research Associate

„For all actors in the health sector, the principle ‘Do no harm’ applies, which must be widened in the Anthropocene. Harm to the environment must be avoided to safeguard (planetary) health, and prevention must be prioritised over cure.“

Dr. Nikolaus Mezger, Research Associate

„In the field of climate and health we have to re-conceive the role of health professionals not least as citizens and scientists to engage in sustainable medicine and prevention-oriented politics — to make healthcare fit for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.“

The Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP) was established by the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG) in late 2021 to proactively advance scientific policy advice at the nexus of global environmental change and health, and to place planetary health at the top of the policy agenda.

Today, there is no shortage of knowledge about the climate crisis and its disastrous health consequences. What is lacking is a translation into effective policies that recognize the urgency of the socio-ecological transformation needed and adequately protect and promote health of current and future generations within planetary boundaries. For this reason, our think tank assists policy makers in translating this scientific knowledge into effective policy programs.

Our team of researchers from the fields of political, social and health sciences as well as medicine develops application-oriented studies and synthesizes evidence with clear recommendations for action. We then communicate this knowledge through target group specific formats to politicians, scientists and to the professional scientific community and the public. The focus of CPHPs consulting work is on identifying ways in which Planetary Health Policy from the municipal to the international level can be translated into concrete transformation paths.

As a link between health professionals, academia and policy makers, the CPHP brings together a wide range of stakeholders in a collaborative process to develop a common understanding of the complex challenges of the multidimensional planetary crises. Together we are working to find and develop sustainable solutions and value-added strategies. Through this multi-stakeholder approach, CPHP aims to create a vision for the future of a resilient, accessible, environmentally friendly, and financially viable health care system that serves as a blueprint and emanates into other sectors.