Plenary 1: Can we survive climate change?

Mary Codd MD, PhD, FRCPI, FFPHMI, FFPH(UK) is President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). Associate Professor of  Epidemiologist & Biostatistics at University College Dublin (UCD), she is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Faculty of Public Health Medicine in Ireland, and Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health UK. Formerly director of the MPH programme at UCD, and currently Director of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme, Europubhealth, she has an outstanding track record in teaching and mentorship for which she has received Teaching Excellence Awards from UCD, Universitas 21 and ASPHER. As a member of the ASPHER Executive Board she led the ECDC Core Competencies in Applied Infectious Diseases Epidemiology (2022) and is Programme Lead of the ASPHER Core Curriculum Programme for Public Health, the 2^nd Edition of which is being launched during the 2026 EPH Conference.

Chiara Cadeddu, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor and Theme Chair of Planetary Health at the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM), Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). She holds a specialisation in hygiene and preventive medicine and currently works at the intersection of planetary health research and policy. She serves as Vice President of the EUPHA Law and Public Health Section, Vice Chair of COST Action CliMent, and is an EU Climate Pact Ambassador. She is an active member of the Planetary Health Alliance Steering Committee and the ASPHER planetary health working group, among others.

Enrico Giovannini is full professor of Economic statistics and of Analyses and policies for sustainable development at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and professor and the National School of Administration (SNA). He was Minister of Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility in the Draghi government and Minister of Labour and Social Policies in the Letta government. He is co-founder and Scientific Director of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), a coalition of more than 300 organisations established to implement in Italy the UN 2030 Agenda. He was Director of Statistics and Chief Statistician of the OECD, President of the Italian Statistical Institute. During his career he was chair or member of important national, European and international committees and bodies, In October 2014, the President of the Italian Republic made him “Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica”, the highest ranking honour of the Italian Republic. In January 2023 he received a honorary PhD in “Sustainable development and climate change”.

Dr Aleksandra Kaźmierczak is a coordinator of the European Climate and Health Observatory at the European Environment Agency (EEA). The Observatory is an informal partnership between the European Commission, EEA, and other European and international organisations. It aims to develop knowledge on climate change impacts on health and on the actions that can reduce or prevent those impacts. Aleksandra is a geographer by background and has worked on adaptation to climate change for over 15 years. Before joining the EEA in 2017, Aleksandra carried out research at University of Manchester and Cardiff University, UK, focussing on socio-environmental inequalities, green infrastructure, and the role of urban planning and built environment in adapting to climate change.

Francesca has more than 30 years of international experience in environment and health policies and science. Her work experience includes sustainable and healthy transport, active mobility and urban policies and interventions, climate change, the promotion of “health in all policies” approaches, One Health, Planetary Health, health impact assessment, violence and injury prevention, and consumer safety. In 2018 she was awarded a Honorary Doctorate by the Swedish School of Sport and Health Science in Stockholm, Sweden, for her leading engagement in environmental health and active transport.