Keele University’s Medical School has joined the Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) - a group of over 270 organisations worldwide that are committed to understanding and addressing global environmental change and its health impacts.

Planetary health brings together a wide range of disciplines, including health, environment and economics in order to tackle global issues. PHA membership demonstrates Keele’s commitment to planetary health science, solutions, and values, and to advancing planetary health by engaging with PHA initiatives and related global efforts.

Keele’s Medical School was also ranked first in the UK in the 2021 Planetary Health Report Card - a student-led initiative which aims to introduce climate change and sustainability into medical school curricula.

This success reflects Keele’s commitment to embedding sustainability across all of its campus operations and builds upon the University’s recent achievements as Global Sustainability Institution of the Year in the Green Gown Awards and ranking in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education Global Impact Rankings.

Professor Christian Mallen, Head of the School of Medicine, said: “I am absolutely delighted that Keele Medical School are part of the Planetary Health Alliance. The School is committed to promoting planetary health and sustainability across all our education and research programmes and we are working hard to achieve this. I’m particularly pleased that many of our initiatives are driven by our amazing students – thank you.”

Professor Mark Ormerod, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, and Institutional Lead for Sustainability said: “I’m thrilled that our Medical School has been successful in its application to join the Planetary Health Alliance. The success reflects the School’s strong commitment to promoting and embedding sustainability and planetary health across its education programmes and research activities, and our institutional commitment to embed sustainability across all of our campus operations.”

Keele University is at the forefront of sustainability innovation and research, with its Institute for Sustainable Futures driving research into issues such as climate change, food security and clean energy on a local, national and global scale.