Threats to Humanity and Doctors' Duties

Doctors as doctors have plausible duties to do what they can to mitigate the impacts of the health system and their own practices on climate change, given that there is generally a duty to do good when one can. One objection to this claim is that the actions doctors could take fall outside doctors' specialist knowledge and legitimate ambit of influence. However, while this objection seems to apply in the case of political actions, it does not apply to actions doctors might take within medical institutions to mitigate climate impacts. A second objection is that within medical institutions, doctors should always prioritise patient care over any other duty. However, though this is true, it doesn't show that the duty in relation to the environment doesn't exist, and in practical terms, there seem likely to be opportunities to act upon it within existing day to day practice. The original claim still stands.