This article was originally published on The Global Governance Project.
“You do not need to be a doctor to understand the links between a healthy environment and healthy people. Simply walk out into nature, breathe the fresh air, listen to the sounds of birds chirping or the rustle of leaves, and feel the stress drain away.
In such moments, we know instinctively that nature is good for us. Yet we have built our increasingly urban world on an economic model that erodes the natural environment and its biodiversity.
The full health benefits of the natural world are too extensive to list. Nature gives us breathable air, drinkable water and productive soil. It is the source of many medicines, traditional and new. Research shows that time spent in nature improves health outcomes: from children’s brains becoming better wired to deal with anxiety and hyperactivity, to our bodies producing the same de-stress chemicals that are prescribed to patients in pill form.
…Degradation of the natural world is driving up healthcare costs, disproportionately affecting the poorest and most vulnerable people. To have any chance of achieving universal health coverage, we need to prioritise policies and actions that protect and restore ecosystems, so we can take full advantage of the health benefits and minimise the negative impacts….”
Read on at: The Global Governance Project.
