The International Summit on Psychology and Global Health

Національна психологічна асоціація — представник України на Міжнародному саміті з психології та глобального здоров’я, який об’єднує психологів з 40 країн зі всього світу!

Маємо можливість долучитися до події у форматі онлайн та отримати найбільш актуальну інформацію щодо питань.

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Dear NPA members,

NPA will participate in the inaugural International Summit on Psychology and Global Health: A Leader in Climate Action on November 14–16 in Lisbon, Portugal. This summit will bring together leaders in the field of psychology from nearly 40 countries from around the world to focus on elevating psychology’s role in addressing global climate change, specifically to help achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Friday afternoon (Portugal time) is open to the public and will be livestreamed at https://www.psychologyandglobalhealth.org/. This open session, from 14:30–18:00 (Portugal time) will feature remarks from U. N. Secretary General António Guterres (schedule permitting), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, president of Portugal, Arthur Evans, CEO of the American Psychological Association, and Francisco Rodrigues, President of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists. I encourage you to watch this session!

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The International Summit on Psychology and Global Health: A Leader in Climate Action will bring together leaders from around the world to advance psychology’s contribution to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Historically, psychology has lacked a unified global voice, meaning its contributions and messaging have been fragmented. To meet today’s global challenges, psychology must be at the table. This Summit aims to elevate psychology’s contributions to global issues, such as climate change, that no one association could tackle independently.

PSYCHOLOGY AND CLIMATE ACTION

There is overwhelming agreement among climate scientists that climate change is occurring faster than anticipated, caused in large part by human behavior. In addition to the threats to our natural environment and physical health, climate change harms mental health and well-being. It can threaten a sense of personal and professional identity, impede social support structures, and increase feelings of helplessness, fear, and fatalism. Both acute and long-term changes in climate have been shown to contribute to the loss of social cohesion and even to elevate hostility and interpersonal and intergroup aggression.

Psychological science not only provides solutions to encourage environmentally-friendly behaviors, it is also important in helping people adapt to climate change. Psychologists can help to build resilience, foster optimism, cultivate active coping, increase preparedness, and emphasize social connections. Health service psychologists can also provide care to people suffering from PTSD and other mental health conditions as a result of climate change-related events.

No single association can effectively combat our global climate crisis. The international community of psychology must come together as one to mobilize our memberships, raise our voices, and implement our science in order to effect real, long-lasting societal change.

PROCLAMATION

«We, representatives of national and international psychological organizations in attendance at the Lisbon Inaugural International Summit on Psychology’s Contributions to Global Health, are committed to ongoing collaboration in the application of psychological science to jointly advance progress on critical global issues, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Our commitment of professional, scientific, educational, cultural, and applied resources will be directed to advancing those issues and Goals for which psychology offers the greatest contribution.

Our initial efforts will be focused on Sustainable Development Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Our mutual work on applications of psychological science to climate change will also provide a framework and model for future collaboration focused on proposals to address critical global issues».

DRAFT RESOLUTION

«WHEREAS there is overwhelming agreement among climate scientists that climate crisis poses a serious global threat, is occurring faster than previously anticipated, and is caused in part by human behavior;

WHEREAS the resistance of some individuals worldwide to accept evidence of climate crisis reflects a variety of psychological, social, economic, and political factors, including misunderstanding the relevant science; psychological threats of departing from the consensus view of one’s peer-group; deliberate exposure to misinformation; and concerns about financial losses stemming from addressing climate crisis;

WHEREAS current research and public communication on the impact of climate crisis have often emphasized the major physical damage caused by extreme weather, such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, and wildfires, and insufficiently addressed the increased displacement, migration, and conflict affecting those populations involved;

WHEREAS climate crisis has a disproportionate impact on already vulnerable groups with fewer resources, including low-income individuals or those who live in rural areas, people of color, women, children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities;

WHEREAS research shows that climate change-related events can result in major acute and chronic adverse mental health outcomes, including stress, trauma, and shock; post-traumatic stress disorder and other forms of anxiety; depression; and substance use disorder, which have been a secondary consideration in climate change communication and action;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that our psychology organizations will advocate for and support international and cross-disciplinary collaboration to mitigate and facilitate adaptation to climate crisis.

We will inform our respective members and the public about climate crisis, emphasizing scientific research and consensus on its causes and short- and long-term harms, and the need for immediate personal and societal action;

We will encourage our members and other mental health leaders to be vocal advocates concerning the necessary preparatory and responsive adaptations to climate crisis and to invest more in research and practice is this area;

We will advocate for Universities and other entities could include formation on societal challenges and, particularly, climate crisis for psychologists and other mental health professionals;

We will increase the availability of services and supportive interventions to help minimize harm to mental health and well-being, especially among vulnerable populations, and increase community resilience;

We will advocate for the rights of those most susceptible to the negative health, and mainly, mental health impacts of climate crisis, for example, by encouraging policymakers to fully fund programs to aid those who suffer harm from severe climate crisis-related events;

We will support the development of a public awareness campaign to encourage individuals and communities to adopt behaviors to help prepare for and recover from gradual climate change and acute climate crisis events;

We will encourage governmental, educational, health, and corporate leaders to use more psychological science in police designs as well as to adopt norms, values, and policy to promote sustainable preventive and corrective behaviors in individuals, groups and communities».

psychologyandglobalhealth.org