The present trajectory of human population, consumption, and inequality is ecologically unsustainable and therefore undermines the basic prerequisites for good health in the long-term. Major public health impacts of climate change are likely to occur via indirect mechanisms- especially via effects on the availability of food and water supplies. Because these problems are only partly amenable to traditional public health interventions, ecologically sustainable development is the foundation of effective adaptation to climate change. In addition to reducing adverse health impacts of climate change in the long-term, ecologically sustainable development would lead to two other major benefits: improvement in human health status in the short-term and a reduction in the major driving forces of climate change.

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