Eating less meat and more fruits and vegetables or walking and cycling more — these recommendations benefit both health and the climate. Yet, many patients reportedly do not want the environmental benefit highlighted explicitly. A study by the University and University Hospital of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, and the University Hospital of Halle, Halle, both in Germany, explored this phenomenon.

A team led by Alina Herrmann, MD, examined whether and how doctors should discuss environmental and climate protection with patients. Herrmann is head of the “Climate-Smart Health Systems” research group at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, first author of the study, and honorary spokesperson of the section “Climate Change and Health” at the German Society of General and Family Medicine. The s

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