December 28, 2018//-The severity of the impact of climate change on health is increasingly clear. Climate change is the greatest challenge of the 21st century, threatening all aspects of the society in which we live, and the continuing delay in addressing the scale of the challenge increases the risks to human lives and health.
The drivers of climate change – principally fossil fuel combustion – pose a heavy burden of disease, including a major contribution to the 7 million deaths from outdoor and indoor air pollution annually.
The air pollutants which are causing ill-health, and the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are causing climate change, are emitted from many of the same sectors, including energy, housing, transport and agriculture.
Short-lived climate pollutants (including black carbon, methane and ozone) have important impacts on both climate and health. If the mitigation commitments in the Paris Agreement are met, millions of lives could be saved through reduced air pollution, by the middle of the century.
More stringent mitigation policies would result in greater health benefits. There are important additional opportunities for synergy between health and climate change mitigation in energy, households, food systems, transport and other sectors, particularly in stemming the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Economic valuation of health decisively favours more aggressive climate mitigation. The most recent evidence indicates that the health gains from energy scenarios to meet the Paris climate goals would more than meet the financial cost of mitigation at global level and would exceed that in countries such as China and India by several times.
Climate change already has negative health effects and undermines the “right to health” cited in the Paris Agreement. Climate change undermines the social and environmental determinants of health, including people’s access to clean air, safe drinking-water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
It is affecting health particularly in the poorest, most vulnerable communities such as small-island developing States (SIDS) and least developed countries, thus widening health inequities.
The health impacts of climate change could be greatly reduced by proven interventions in climate-resilient health systems, including climate-resilient health facilities, and through health-determining sectors such as water, sanitation and food systems and disaster risk reduction.
At present, however, only 3% of health resources are invested in prevention, and only 0.5% of multilateral climate finance has been specifically for health projects.
City Mayors and other subnational authorities are critical actors in reducing carbon emissions, improve health and increasing resilience.
Local authorities are often wholly or partly responsible for energy provision, transport, water, sanitation and health. Continuing urbanization makes cities, in particular, important foci of action for climate and health.
The health community is highly trusted, globally connected and increasingly engaged in reducing climate change and air pollution.
World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with leading health professional bodies, nongovernmental organizations, journals and the wider health community to mobilize behind stronger climate mitigation and adaptation.
The call to action on climate and health for COP24 was issued by organizations representing over 5 million doctors, nurses and public health professionals and 17 000 hospitals in over 120 countries.
Mobilization of the health sector is also necessary to reduce the growing contribution of health care to GHG emissions, which currently represents 5–8% of the total in high-income countries.
Monitoring of progress in health and climate change is improving, but there are weaknesses in coverage and in stakeholder engagement.
The indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for climate change do not include health, although the situation is being remedied in academic research initiatives, by WHO and by the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in partnership with countries.
Such indicators could be used for formal reporting to the UNFCCC, broader outreach to the public and monitoring of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
COP 24 Special Report: Health and Climate Change, which was launched recently at the United Nations negotiations on climate change in Katowice, Poland.
