As Climate Ambassador in the European Climate Pact, the EFN has attended the Community Talk on European climate risk assessment and EU climate resilience. It was a valuable opportunity to hear from Elena Visnar Malinovska, Head of Unit at DG Clima on Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change. During her presentation, she made it absolutely clear that the effects of climate change on public health are extremely serious and that we are not currently ready to face this crisis. However, she also made it clear that there are many preventive measures and actions that can be undertaken to improve resilience and to reduce the mortality rate of climate change.
On this matter, the EFN has a very clear position. As stated in the EFN Policy Statement on the Nurses’ Contribution to Tackle Climate Change (2020), and in the EFN Policy Statement on Nursing Planetary Health (2023), nurses can greatly contribute to reinforcing societal resilience to climate change thanks to their educational and advocacy activities. As the most trusted healthcare professionals, they play a huge role in educating patients and their families on sustainable lifestyles, contributing to prevention and resilience towards the negative effects of climate change. As such, the EFN has proposed the definition “Nursing Planetary Health”, which clearly showcases the contribution of nurses to address the causes and effects of manmade planetary changes.
Furthermore, the EFN is actively working towards empowering nurses and supporting their upskilling in the Green Skills through the involvement in the EU Project BeWell. In this context, the EFN has developed a free-of-access MOOC on the Green Skills for nurses, which intends to empower and raise nurses’ awareness towards the key role that they can play to achieve Planetary Health. As Climate Ambassador in the European Climate Pact, the EFN will thus continue to empower nurses and showcase their contributions towards Planetary Health.