Shweta Narayan on Solidarity, Fossil Fuels, and Hope

Welcome back, dear colleague!

In the second episode of a podcast miniseries from the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health and People Power Health, our Pedja Stojicic sits down with Shweta Narayan, a trained social worker with over two decades of environmental justice campaigning and advocacy experience.

She discusses the scope of the problem, what true solidarity looks like in organizing, and how trust and humility can help health professionals build stronger, more hopeful movements. Check out the Healthy Climate America podcast and other episodes, here. 

This conversation centers on two core practices of community organizing: seeing one another’s humanity and making space for story, then building strategy, leadership teams, and action from there. Shweta also emphasizes a prevention mindset, extending trust beyond the clinic (e.g., partnering with farmers), and practicing humility while respecting community and governance structures. 

What you’ll hear

Fossil fuels: health impact at every stage

A new Global Climate and Health Alliance report maps impacts at every stage: extraction, refining/production, combustion, and disposal and flags social and economic harms (marginalization, trafficking, gender-based violence). Use it to size the problem and plan interventions.

Solidarity, not saviorism

Shweta’s origin story runs through support for Bhopal survivors, lending solidarity to survivor-led action rather than leading for them.

Why interest is surging now

Compounding extreme weather pushes health systems to the front line, while political will is missing, so clinicians feel a duty to step up.

A model that works: Doctors for Clean Air

Train clinicians on causes/impacts, build trust with farmers, shift practices, and reach burn-free districts. Relationship + evidence = change.

Why this episode matters

• Prevention mindset. Re-connect clinical work to root causes, then act beyond the clinic.
  

• Extend trust beyond the clinic. Partner with farmers and other community actors; use clinical trust to advance shared solutions.
  

• Practice humility. Respect community and governance structures, even as you work to change them.
  

• Story & vulnerability. Create spaces where clinicians share their own stories (not just patients’); it shifts relationships. 

Listen now, and stay tuned: Pedja Stojicic will also host the next episode.