The World Health Organisation (WHO) says health must be put at the fore at the COP27 climate change negotiations.
By HealthTimes Reporter
The COP27 negotiations began today in Egypt.
“On the eve of the pivotal climate talks at COP27, WHO issues a grim reminder that the climate crisis continues to make people sick and jeopardizes lives and that health must be at the core of these critical negotiations.
“WHO believes the conference must conclude with progress on the four key goals of mitigation, adaptation, financing and collaboration to tackle the climate crisis.
“COP27 will be a crucial opportunity for the world to come together and re-commit to keeping the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement goal alive,” said the WHO.
The WHO noted that climate change is already affecting people’s health and will continue to do so at an accelerating rate unless urgent action is taken.
“Climate change is making millions of people sick or more vulnerable to disease all over the world and the increasing destructiveness of extreme weather events disproportionately affects poor and marginalized communities,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “It is crucial that leaders and decision makers come together at COP27 to put health at the heart of the negotiations.”
The direct damage costs to health (i.e., excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation), according to the WHO is estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030.
“Our health depends on the health of the ecosystems that surround us, and these ecosystems are now under threat from deforestation, agriculture and other changes in land use and rapid urban development. The encroachment ever further into animal habitats is increasing opportunities for viruses harmful to humans to make the transition from their animal host. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress,” the WHO said.
Said the WHO, “Improvement in human health is something that all citizens can contribute to, whether through the promotion of more urban green spaces, which facilitate climate mitigation and adaptation while decreasing the exposure to air pollution, or campaigning for local traffic restrictions and the enhancement of local transport systems. Community engagement and participation on climate change is essential to building resilience and strengthening food and health systems, and this is particularly important for vulnerable communities and small island developing states (SIDS), who are bearing the brunt of extreme weather events.”
The WHO added governments should promote health focused climate policies.
“Climate policy must now put health at the centre and promote climate change mitigation policies that bring health benefits simultaneously. Health-focused climate policy would help bring about a planet that has cleaner air, more abundant and safer freshwater and food, more effective and fairer health and social protection systems and, as a result, healthier people,” said the WHO.
“Investment in clean energy will yield health gains that repay those investments twice over. There are proven interventions able to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, for instance applying higher standards for vehicle emissions, which have been calculated to save approximately 2.4 million lives per year, through improved air quality and reduce global warming by about 0.5 °C by 2050.
“The cost of renewable sources of energy has decreased significantly in the last few years, and solar energy is now cheaper than coal or gas in most major economies.”
