What does the Hippocratic Oath – one of the oldest and most enduring foundations of medical ethics, still echoed in the pledges many doctors take today – mean by “do no harm” when the systems surrounding us are harming both people and the planet? Although the exact phrase “do no harm” comes from another Hippocratic text, the Oath itself declares: “I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgment and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.”
When we talk about health today, we can’t ignore that the climate crisis is causing much
damage to human health. Nor can we ignore the need for equity and participation. These
themes are deeply connected and when we join them up, we create the conditions for real
Change.
At our recent workshop as part of the Green and Healthy 2025 conference, Sue Palmer,
Edventure’s Future Shed Lead and I explored what this looks like in action and shared what we
learnt from four years of working at the intersection of health, climate and community.
Why join health and climate?
Chronic disease is rising globally, and we even see this every day on our doorstep in Britain. At
the same time, systemic powers, from war to extractive economies, continue to undermine both
human and planetary health. Hippocates’ call to ‘do no harm.’ has long set the moral principles for medical practitioners around the world. But what does that concept mean when the systems we work within are generating harm at scale?
For us, the answer has been partnership. Working together gave us more capacity to move
beyond institutional walls, to invite community voices, to collaborate and create space for action.
Over four years, this approach has shifted mindsets; at Frome Medical Practice 91% of staff are
now more aware of the need for healthcare to consider environmental sustainability and 72% of
staff better understand how sustainability connects to their day-to-day roles.
This isn’t just about awareness – it’s about embedding climate and health into the heart of care.
Participation: listening and taking action.
At the beginning, I explicitly brought climate into every conversation and felt that it was my
responsibility to do so as Sustainability Lead. Over time, I learned the power of framing the
benefits – how climate action improves health and wellbeing, reduces inequality and strengthens
community.
Participation has been key. From ‘Stitch It, Don’t Ditch It’ to river festivals, from seed libraries to
nature prescriptions, we’ve seen how joy, creativity and skill can galvanise action. Sometimes
the climate message is front and centre and sometimes it’s woven quietly into the fabric of
community life. Either way, to quote Adrienne Maree Brown, “it moves at the speed of trust”.
What does equity mean in this work? Health equity means everyone can attain their full potential for health and wellbeing. But history
reminds us that our modern healthcare systems were built on power structures and climate
impacts are felt most by those with the least power.
For us, equity means
● Connecting local action to global responsibility
● Recognising historic injustices, from industrial-era medicine to modern-day resource
extraction
● Tackling structural inequalities, not just the symptoms
This work is about social justice as much as it is about sustainability. It’s about refusing to see
climate as a ‘green’ issue alone, and instead seeing it as a health issue, a community issue, a
human issue.
The projects of Green and Healthy Frome remind us that collaboration isn’t just a strategy, it’s a
lived experience – it’s messy, joyful and deeply human.
Challenges and opportunities: Partnership isn’t always easy. We’ve faced climate fatigue, institutional inertia and the
complexity of aligning different priorities. But we’ve also seen the power of persistence and creativity.
What next? Climate invites us to think differently about health, to see it as connected, relational, and rooted
in justice. It asks us to work together, across sectors, across silos, across boundaries.
So, what’s the first step? For us, it’s clear; keep listening, keep inviting, keep joining.
Written by Charlotte Carson, Sustainability Lead at Frome Medical Practice