One Health and Political Science: An Emerging Field of Interest?

This article discusses the One Health (OH) approach, to which more and more attention is currently being paid, not only in context of global health, but also in highlevel political circles. The concept relies on the assumption that human, animal and environmental health are mutually intertwined and, in order to improve global preparedness and response to future health crises, coordinated efforts in all these three areas are required. The paper is divided into three main sections: 1) historical background, where the emergence of the idea is presented, 2) the meaning of the One Health approach for political scientists, and 3) the impact of climate change on One Health, thanks to which the approach has become more environmentally oriented. In the final section of the article, a few challenges arising from the integration of OH into climate change studies are presented. The main idea behind the paper is that, contrary to general opinions, One Health cannot be limited to the field of public health. Its complex and interdisciplinary nature, with its apparent focus on environmental changes, also makes it a very interesting research area for political scientists, which is illustrated by a few examples of highlevel international, national and regional initiatives.