Against the backdrop of the biggest health challenges of our century, the planetary health pledge was conceived and proposed by an interprofessional group of health professionals from different countries across the globe. These challenges include but are not limited to: the climate crisis, freshwater and other resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, poverty, inquality and migration.

Health professionals enjoy high levels of trust in society. As trained communicators, they operate at the interfaces between science, policy and practice and therefore are well placed to be agents of individual and systemic transformative changes. The pledge is inspired by the Declaration of Geneva by the World Medical Association; however, it also goes beyond that in various ways:

Instead of pertaining to only one professional group in its scope and content, the planetary health pledge is meant to be for all health professionals globally who have diverse worldviews and professional and cultural backgrounds.

It expands the interpretation of the ethical principle “First do no harm” (Primum non nocere) from current to future generations and recognizes planetary habitability as the ultimate bedrock for human health and wellbeing.

It promotes a life-course and intergenerational approach with a focus on prevention on all levels, emphasizing health practice and interventions which synergistically yield co-benefits for human health and the natural environment on which it depends.

It includes a focus on the health impacts of structural inequalities and any form of discrimination as being prime determinants of health caused by human societal systems.

The authors of this pledge firmly believe that planetary health ethical principles need to be grounded in the professional ethos, practice and education of all health professionals worldwide. To rise to the health challenges of the Anthropocene, transdisciplinary thinking and interprofessional practice are paramount. Therefore, we hope this proposal for a pledge that is interprofessional and reflects the roles and responsibilities of health professionals vis à vis these challenges stimulates discussion and will be taken up widely.

We welcome constructive feedback from all readers, and we urge professional bodies and especially health education institutions to incorporate planetary health principles and values in their curricula and vision statements. We also encourage interprofessional graduation and pledge-taking ceremonies.

Please feel welcome to adapt the pledge to your personal or institutional context.