Exploring the
WFOT position statement on
environmental sustainability
Ben Whittaker (OT Programme Lead, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare)
Samantha Shann (Vice President Finance, WFOT)
150 years
Domestic
First Oil
light bulb
Well
100 years
4142 cars,
10 miles
concrete
road in US
50 years
NOW
First home
PC
First
commercial 240,000,000 home
PCs
jet ticket
650,000,000 cars
4,800,000,000
passenger flights
4,000,000,000
bulbs pa EU+USA
alone (that’s 126 a
second)
(Montgomery 2009)
196,442 kg of coal…..
103,881,279 litres of gas….
150,179 litres of oil…..
…….. A SECOND
(Montgomery 2009)
Flows of emissions of CO2 from burning
fossil-fuels have risen rapidly since 1950
Billions of tonnes of CO2
25
20
15
10
5
0
1850
1875
1900
1925
1950
1975
2000
(Montgomery 2009)
“…every year climate
change leaves over 300,000
people dead, 325 million
people seriously affected,
and economic losses of
US$125 billion. Four billion
people are vulnerable, and
500 million people are at
extreme risk.” (GHF 2009, p1)
What is sustainable development?
Development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs
(WCED 1987)
Social
Sustainable development
Environmental
Economic
WFOT Position
Statement
on Environmental
Sustainability
(2012)
Global Health Values
Interdependence
Independence
Rights
Crisp (2010)
WFOT Position
Statement
on Human Rights
(2006)
Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E)
(Polatajko, Townsend & Craik, 2007)
Green Lifestyle Redesign®
Camille Dieterle OTD, OTR/L
A Wellness Program for Environmental Sustainability
Sustainable healthcare education
“Health is a collective value. One person’s
health should not, and ultimately cannot,
be maintained at the expense of another’s,
nor through the excessive use of natural
resources” (Stott 2000, p14)
Joel Pett/Lexington Herald-Leader. Reprinted with permission.
References
• Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (2010) Sustainable Healthcare Education. Available at:
http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/education Accessed on: 22.03.2011
• College of Occupational Therapists (2007) Building the Evidence for Occupational
Therapy: Priorities for Research. London: COT.
• Crisp N (2010) Turning the World Upside Down: The Search for Health in the 21st
Century. Florida, USA: Taylor & Francis Group.
• Dieterle C (2013) Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle. Available at:
www.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/occupational-therapy-sustainable-practice-networkot-susnet/blog/2013/02/creating-sustainable-lifest Accessed on: 04.03.2013.
• Global Humanitarian Forum (2009) Human Impact Report: Climate Change – The
Anatomy of a Silent Crisis. Geneva: GHF.
• Montgomery H (2009) The Time for Action is Now. Available at:
www.climateandhealth.org/getinformed/ Accessed on: 11.12.2010.
• Pett J (2010) “What if it’s a big hoax and we create a better world…?” editorial cartoon.
USA Today, 07.12.2009, A.8.
• Polatajko HJ, Townsend EA & Craik J (2007) Canadian Model of Occupational
Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E). In: Townsend EA & Polatajko HJ (2007).
Enabling Occupation II: Advancing an Occupational Therapy Vision for Health, Well-being
& Justice through Occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT ACE.
References
• Stott R (2000) The Ecology of Health. Dartington: Green Books.
• UCL Lancet Commission (2009) Managing the health effects of climate change. The
Lancet, 373(9676), 1693-1733.
• UK National Ecosystem Assessment (2011) The UK National Ecosystem Assessment:
Synthesis of the Key Findings. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge.
• WCED (1987) Our Common Future: Brundtland Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Available at: worldinbalance.net/pdf/1987-brundtland.pdf Accessed on: 06.12.2009.
• Whittaker B (2011) OT Susnet – The Story so Far. Available at:
http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/occupational-therapy-sustainable-practicenetwork-ot-susnet/blog/2011/11/ot-susnet-story-so-far Accessed on: 14.06.2013.
• WHO (2008) Protecting Health from Climate Change – World Health Day 2008. Geneva,
Switzerland: World Health Organization.
• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2006) Position statement on human
rights. Forrestfield: WFOT.
• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2009) Guiding Principles on Diversity and
Culture. Forrestfield: WFOT.
• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2012) Position statement on
environmental sustainability: sustainable practice within occupational therapy.
Forrestfield: WFOT.
Ben Whittaker
ben.whittaker@sustainablehealthcare.org.uk
Samantha Shann
admin@wfot.org.au