Hearing Justice Through a Stethoscope: Advocacy, Climate Change and Medicine's Upstream Responsibilities

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges the existing robust data that show that climate change substantially and negatively affects human health both directly and indirectly, with Indigenous people facing heightened vulnerability. The health impacts of climate change make litigation an important means of pursuing justice and strategically challenging legal systems that are not taking sufficient steps to reduce the impacts of climate change. This article invites medical professionals to learn from recent climate litigation cases and calls on professionals to listen deeply, act in allyship, and embrace legal and cultural literacy as core to delivering health equity in a changing climate.