Climate and health visionary: Dr. John Balbus receives leadership award for transformative work
After three decades of being at the forefront of integrating climate action into the health care sector and policies, Dr. John Balbus has been awarded the 2025 Visionary Leader Award from Health Care Without Harm on May 7 during the annual CleanMed conference. Balbus was recognized for his leadership in transforming the health care sector’s approach to climate mitigation, resilience, and equity.
As the former United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) deputy assistant secretary for Climate Change and Health Equity and founding director of the HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), Balbus led federal efforts to prepare the health care sector for climate challenges while reducing its environmental impact, including the groundbreaking Health Sector Climate Pledge.
We sat down with Balbus to discuss his journey from academic researcher to government change-maker, the challenges of prioritizing climate action in health care, and his vision for a climate-resilient, equitable health sector.
The Visionary Leader Award honors leaders who have made significant contributions to the climate-smart health care movement. It celebrates passionate change makers whose work has supported groundbreaking solutions, revolutionary new practices, or the mobilization of broader industry collaboration. The award recognizes individuals whose leadership, vision, and innovation have helped shift momentum toward a zero-emissions, climate-resilient, and equitable future – inspiring transformative change across the health sector and beyond.
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