NHS Workers Demand Climate Action In Massive Projections Across Glasgow
After dark on 18th October, buildings in Glasgow lit up with messages from NHS workers demanding world leaders take urgent action to prevent further climate breakdown - I accompanied them to capture the following images.
Gathering my camera gear ready to meet James, one of the Doctors pictured above, I was very excited to play a part in this project organised by UK health worker organisation Medact. It was quite a last-minute arrangement, but one I was happy to be part of as Glasgow hurtles towards COP26. Joining us were a team of NHS health professionals, and projectionists from Warpro Production Services, who were responsible for mapping the team’s messages onto these Glasgow landmarks with their large format projector.
Beginning with the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, we zipped between each location, fired up the massive projector, and I got to work capturing the spectacle their projected messages created. George Square was our second stop, where passers by stopped to read, photograph, and begin tweeting the newly illuminated People Make Glasgow sign.
Lastly, we made our way to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, (known as the Southern General when I was born there!), where I photographed the projections, as well as group photos with the team of health professionals. We recorded some video too, with each Doctor explaining why they are taking part - you may see these soon on Medact’s social media channels.
Medact is a group which supports and provides a platform for health professionals of all disciplines to speak out on the causes of poor health across the globe. Health workers will be joining the Global Day of Action in response to COP26 on 6th November here in Glasgow, joining the massive march from Kelvingrove to Glasgow Green.
The full press release from Medact accompanying my images is as follows:
Ahead of the global climate talks in Glasgow in November, a message projected onto the Glasgow Royal Infirmary read “Air pollution killed 354 people in Glasgow in 2020 alone” and “The climate crisis is a health crisis”.
UK health worker organisation Medact and other organisations of health professionals from Scotland are demanding action from the UK government and world leaders. They have demanded in a recent letter:
• To take decisive action to mitigate the wide reaching health impacts of climate change.
• To ensure climate justice; climate change disproportionately affects those most vulnerable, so policy must redress this.
• Establish a Green New Deal; transition to a decarbonised society must be fair and equitable.
• Remove the influence of harmful polluters from COP.
Dr Claire Gaughan, a GP based in Forth Valley, said:
“The UK climate change committee states the UK is on track to meet only a 5th of its emissions targets. This, coming at a time where our government has the responsibility of leading the world on reducing emissions, is sickening. We need all leaders to take swift and radical measures now. It feels as though we are shouting but no one is listening and if they are listening, they are offering only platitudes.”
Dr Bridie Barnett, medical consultant in Highland, said:
“As doctors, our job is to make a diagnosis and come up with the treatment. But the remedy to this crisis, the biggest health emergency this century, is not in our hands - it is in the hands of governments worldwide”.
Hundreds of health organisations and medical journals have recently highlighted the threat that climate change poses to human health and the urgency of acting, including WHO and the British Medical Journal.