Helena Clements: RCPCH officer for climate change

I have a new job! The first officer for climate change at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). This is an exciting transition, taking the College Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) to a new level and making it more “business as usual”. The post is for 2 years and my manifesto is to embed climate action in every part of the college over this time. I aspire to get every subspecialty to have climate advocacy and net zero on their agendas, for our college conference to have climate research and Sustainable QI projects in each session, and the need for a separate CCWG session to evaporate.

Back in 2019 our conference was in Birmingham and I attended after quite a long gap. The night before I studied the abstracts and was dismayed to see that there was absolutely no reference to climate change. I made a poster that night and asked the question “What are we doing about climate change?” Our conference returns to Birmingham in March 2024 and things are very different.

On Sunday before the conference there is a plan for a number of paediatricians and children to join the Ride for their Lives group, cycling through the streets of Birmingham to raise awareness of air pollution and the disproportionate impact it has on children. But air pollution impacts on the health of us all. I heard this week that it will overtake smoking as a leading cause of cancer worldwide! How good would it be if we could get a real host of paediatricians advocating for clean air. Even better would be to get local health colleagues from every specialty to join us and really slow down the traffic! Surely this doesn’t only matter to paediatricians?

It is COP28 in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. Health is now on the agenda, which is encouraging. But I understand there is a reluctance in most countries to link the health impacts of climate change and the obvious contribution of fossil fuels to air pollution.  The RCPCH has teamed up with the Clean Air Fund (CAF) to appoint fellows addressing air pollution through advocacy and education. This is a very exciting partnership and my first job in my new role was to interview and appoint our new fellows. In my first meeting with the CAF team we reflected on this new venture and the powerful role that all clinicians can have in advocating for climate justice and the imperative to address the climate, health and biodiversity crisis which is unfolding before us. This is not just about decarbonising the NHS which is 5% of our Nation’s carbon footprint, it is about emphasising to our fellow citizens and the World’s leaders that our health and very survival depends on us all addressing 100% of the problem.