The Planetary Dysregulation
INTRODUCTION
There is now robust evidence from academic science that human health is intrinsically linked to planetary health.
Whether it is through the exposure to the external microbiome, which nourishes and regulates our internal gut environment or the influence natural terrain has on the function and development of our muscular-skeletal systems.
More significantly is Indigenous Peoples have understood this link for thousands of years (source, source) and continue with this knowledge template to this day. Most recently, the Indigenous led campaign for clean water at the Standing Rock Reservation showed the world that Water is sacred, because Water is Life. In other words, the health of every ecosystem and person on this planet is tied to clean Water.
We cannot talk about what is happening to our planet without speaking about health and environmental justice. Therefore this report will focus on the pathways that are contributing to planetary dysregulation and their impacts on human health. With the purpose of updating policies that will support the work of environmental and health justice practitioners.
This report will focus on three key learnings:
Identify the various cultural and biological pathways that have led to the phenomenon we are currently facing.
Arrive at an updated understanding of the planetary crisis which includes its effect on human health.
Introduce Indigenous Knowledges as solutions to the crisis.
The term ‘climate change’ whilst now firmly established in our lexicon still fails to be mentally accessible due to its ambiguity. Only articulating the phenomena based on outputs does little to orientate our attention and cognitive abilities toward the inputs, which contribute to the output or problem. To do this we must start by identifying, naming and defining the problem more accurately. In this report we are using the term “planetary dysregulation”, which is being defined as “the impaired ability of planetary systems to maintain and the processes required for self-regulation, particularly due to unsustainable exploitation of ecosystems and chronic exposure to industrial contamination”.
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