Conference Programme

Objective

The fossil fuel industry and its allies in plastics and chemicals are not winning because the science is on their side. They are winning because they are better funded, better organised and more strategically sophisticated. This session asks why, and what it would take to change that. Five questions frame the discussion: why are these industries so much better at communications; what bold proposals would actually shift the balance; what are the genuine barriers to those proposals; how do we overcome them sustainably; and what role can AI play, given that it currently risks deepening the asymmetry rather than correcting it. The central proposal is a standing, properly resourced, cross-sector communications coalition, with professional expertise, sustained multi-year funding and a shared focus on unpersuaded public audiences, placing health framing at its core. The session connects to the Planetary Health Communications Working Group, the Pro-Social AI Working Group and the Asia Pacific Media Professionals Workshop Series.

Objective

Nature is not an externality to be managed at the margins of economic growth. It is foundational for unlocking economic prosperity yet economies are not designed to unlock that capital. This session will focus on how nature inspires and provides opportunities for transforming economies and human resilience.

Objective

Health is not the destination; it is the driver. Societies with healthy populations invest more productively, govern more stably, and respond better to climate and economic shocks, making health leadership a systemic lever capable of triggering positive tipping points across governance, finance, and planetary sustainability. Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution have severe health and economic impacts. Healthcare workers are consistently ranked among the most trusted people and are increasingly speaking up on harmful impact of the planetary crisis. This session highlights importance of how health systems not only need to transform to be resilient and develop resilient societies and what health leadership is pivotal in accelerating positive tipping points.