Thought experiments are mental exercises in which human imagination is used to put a hypothesis or idea to the test without actually conducting an experiment or research project. From February to November 2022, we sought to answer the following question: “If we had the power to add just one resource to what was available the day COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, so that we could change its course for the better, which resource would we choose?” Soon, we concluded that the key missing piece was a species-wide, representative, accountable and empowered governance system. In light of this, the one imaginary resource we chose to add was a Planetary Health Protection Council (PHPC). This would be a body that would convene leaders from the government and the corporate, academic and civil society sectors with the goal of developing trustworthy measures that would allow humans to interrupt the spread of a pandemic, or curb other existential threats. Given that the success of the PHPC would depend on being perceived as trustworthy by the general public, it could be complemented with two independent related structures, which could be spearheaded and coordinated by the public health community: A platform to facilitate equitable, transparent and inclusive participation by representative samples of the world’s population, and a system of in-person and virtual tools designed to encourage community engagement around controversial issues during the pandemic, from villages to the entire globe. Workshop participants will be invited to join the ongoing reflections around the proposed governance system, and to identify the optimal contributions of the public health community to prepare the world for the next pandemic or for other existential threats. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore: The feasibility of a new planetary governance system able to tackle pandemics and other existential threats.The optimal role of the public health community to open spaces for discussions, reflections and initiatives related to the emergence of a new species-wide, representative, accountable and empowered governance system.The contributions of thought experiments as tools for public health leaders to confront difficult questions, mostly in relation to complex ethical issues or policy decisions. By the end of the workshop, participants would have contributed to answering the following key questions: What structure and working mechanisms would constitute a system of governance that is species-wide, representative, trustworthy, accountable and empowered to tackle the next pandemic or other major existential threats?How could public health leaders and the public health community at large become more effective at engaging the population they serve, as well as leaders of the government, corporate, academic and civil society sectors while facing the next pandemic or other major existential threats?What contributions could thought experiments play as tools for public health leaders to confront difficult questions?