The project Co-creation and Integration of Planetary Health Impact Assessment in policy practice (CINPHIA) has taken shape in the context of climate institute SEVEN initiative from the University of Amsterdam, together with RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. The CINPHIA consortium not only includes other universities, but also collaboration partners from policy, practice and society.

The Law Centre for Health and Life – with Anniek de Ruijter leading the legal and policy research – will spend the next five years working on the development of a Planetary Health Compass to increase the impact of policy.

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics at the Faculty of Science – with Antonia Praetorius leading the CINPHIA work package on sustainable pharmaceutical policy – will evaluate the applicability of the Planetary Health Compass for identifying leverage points where policy can most effectively reduce the environmental impacts of pharmaceutical production, use and waste.

About CINPHIA

Factors such as heat, pollution and declining biodiversity are leading to increased illness and mortality in the Netherlands and worldwide. This points to poor planetary health: the health of humans, animals and the planet as a whole. This deterioration manifests itself in new infectious diseases, chronic conditions such as asthma and allergies, and stress-related mental health issues, amongst other things.

There is still insufficient knowledge and policy to tackle these complex problems effectively. The CINPHIA project addresses this by developing a Planetary Health Compass. This project focuses on the urgent need for policy that takes into account the complex interactions between the health of humans, animals and the planet.

Over the next five years, the CINPHIA consortium will, alongside other initiatives, develop the Planetary Health Compass. This will generate actionable knowledge to support feasible, integrated policy measures that protect and restore planetary health. Policymakers can use the compass to assess the potential impacts of policies in advance and make timely adjustments.

The research is led by Marleen Bekker from Wageningen University. The project was jointly submitted by the University of Amsterdam, Wageningen University & Research, Inholland University of Applied Sciences The Hague, the RIVM and Erasmus MC.