Diary: Three days of planetary health discussions in Malaysia

On a pleasant, balmy morning in late February, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Over 40 kilometres and a scenic, hour-long taxi ride later, I reached Sunway City, a township in the neighbouring city of Subang Jaya. This was the home of Sunway University and the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, which hosted the annual Planetary Health Summit last April. It was also the venue for the workshop I was attending – a chapter of the Capacity Development and Training Series for Media Professionals, where we gathered to discuss planetary health, with a focus on extreme heat and human health.

The workshop brought together 30 journalists and experts from across the Asean and Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) regions. It was the second in a proposed series of ten workshops held over four years, designed to equip media professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to report on planetary health, providing training in communicating climate-related challenges, navigating misinformation and integrating solutions-based journalism into reporting. What followed was an engaging and impactful few days of learning, unlearning and relearning.

Each morning, before the day’s sessions began, participants would walk along the 4-kilometre Canopy Walk to the university, a shaded route through tropical greenery connecting Sunway’s key facilities. These 40-minute strolls set the pace for the day, offering moments for informal exchanges, shared observations and budding friendships. For some of us, it was also a rare opportunity to connect in person with journalists from neighbouring countries.

Given its declared commitments to climate policies and initiatives, Malaysia felt like a fitting venue for the workshop. For me, visiting a developing Southeast Asian country in the context of climate change was educational on many levels.

What is planetary health?

Planetary health is a relatively recent concept. It is broadly defined as a multidisciplinary field that explores the intersection between environmental change, human wellbeing and global stability. As a multi-pronged approach, it addresses issues like climate change, pollution and the health implications of environmental degradation.

According to the Sunway Centre, a planetary health approach to human development acknowledges that humankind has made significant progress, with examples being the industrial, green and technological revolutions. But it notes that such development gains are now being offset by “increasingly obvious disruption” to the planet’s health. This is seen in depleted biodiversity, large increases in air pollution, natural resource shortages and damage to the environment we live in.

The importance of effective storytelling

Jemilah Mahmood, the centre’s executive director, notes that it is important to join the jots between climate change, rising temperatures and health outcomes, emphasising the significance of planetary health across these issues. “This workshop isn’t just about understanding the science – it’s about becoming a more effective storyteller on the frontlines of the climate and health crises,” she says.

As Pakistan editor for Dialogue Earth, I get a chance to both commission and report on heatwaves, floods and vector-borne diseases in the region. Pakistan’s floods of 2022 – widely dubbed the “monster monsoon” – affected one in seven people and displaced nearly 8 million. Since then, climate change has come under great scrutiny in the world’s fifth most populous country. Yet, across the region, I’ve noticed that disaster coverage often sidelines climate change, treating it as an abstract and vague backdrop rather than a significant contributor.

The workshop activities, such as developing news stories based on simulated heatwave crises, made me consider how we frame our stories: do we have the tools, data and scientific knowhow to understand the nexus between health and climate change, and report effectively on the subject? The discussions that followed showed that these are common challenges faced by journalists in the Global South.

Identifying the issues faced in reporting

Speakers and trainers addressed a broad range of topics, but there were a few key themes, which reflected their urgency. These included the role of climate change as a multiplier for public health crises; heat events in Asia and how they are attributable to climate change; how various physical impacts of heat have been observed in different ecosystems; the impacts of heatwaves on work productivity and the economy, and the ethics and complexities of reporting heat-related deaths and disasters. There was also a focus on identifying and engaging target audiences for climate stories, strategies for avoiding false solutions, and how to improve the quality of climate reporting.

One discussion focused on an analysis of the Southeast Asian climate reporting landscape. The exchanges that followed highlighted, for instance, disparities in typhoon coverage between rural and urban locations, and differences in the language used in reportage. Multiple participants spoke of how vernacular press often provides more locally relevant reporting, while English-language media tends to carry more weight with policymakers. Political influences were also examined, with journalists sharing how they navigate sensitive conversations around fossil fuel phase-outs – topics that, in some countries, are often seen as anti-nationalist.

A particularly interesting session that resonated with most of the participants was one led by Jason Lee, a professor at the National University of Singapore’s Heat Resilience and Performance Centre. He touched on the health risks of heat stress and the need to protect vulnerable populations like the elderly, with community and religious leaders identified as crucial messengers for heat-related interventions. Lee shared research linking extreme heat to increased aggression, impulsive behaviour and higher suicide rates, and expressed the need for accessible cooling solutions. “A place which is not good enough to walk in is not a healthy place. Human health and wellbeing depend on three things: good food, good sleep, good exercise. And extreme heat effects all three,” he said. Lee went on to comment on the impact of extreme heat events, likening human response to the boiling frog metaphor: “We are being cooked slowly and we don’t even know.”

The Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health aptly states that human health and the health of the earth are intertwined, and that “our civilisation depends on human health, flourishing natural systems and the wise stewardship of natural resources. With natural systems being degraded to an extent unprecedented in human history, both our health and that of our planet are in peril”. Lee’s session, like many others, underscored just how urgent this reality has become.

As the workshop wrapped up, I found myself reflecting on what the concept of planetary health means for Pakistan. Strolling along the Canopy Walk for the last time, I thought back to Lee’s session, and found how his emphasis on walkability and the need for heat-resilient urban design was well reflected in the vision for the walkway. In a country that can get very hot, it was a rare example of built infrastructure that prioritises comfort and human wellbeing in a warming world.

It was then that I realised that planetary health isn’t just an academic concept; very real lives at a human level are impacted by extreme heat and climate-induced disasters. The toll of climate disasters on women in Pakistan, the impact of heat on maternal and foetal health, the vulnerable communities displaced by monsoon floods and GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods) – we have written about all of this on Dialogue Earth. But this workshop has deepened my resolve to join the dots with greater awareness of how the planet’s health is intertwined with the lives of the humans striving to survive on its surface. It is all connected.

This article originally appeared on Dialogue Earth and has been reproduced with permission