Health will be core topic at COP27: WHO

NEW DELHI:  On the eve of the pivotal climate talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a grim reminder that the climate crisis continues to make people sick, jeopardises lives and that health must be at the core of these critical negotiations. Noting that the conference, which is being held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from Nov 6 to 18, must conclude with progress on the four key goals — mitigation, adaptation, financing and collaboration. WHO said that it’s a crucial opportunity for the world to come together and re-commit to keeping the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal alive. 

“The increasing destructiveness of extreme weather events affects poor and marginalised communities,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, adding, “It is crucial that leaders and decision makers come together at COP27 to put health at the heart of the negotiations.” The United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27), which will be attended by about 100 heads of state and government, will be discussing key issues like urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, to delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries.

“Our focus will be placing the health threat from the climate crisis and the huge health gains that would come from stronger climate action, at the centre of discussions,” according to a statement. “Our health depends on the health of the ecosystems that surround us, and they are now under threat from deforestation, agriculture and other changes in land use. Encroachment into animal habitats is increasing viruses harmful to humans,” it said.

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 direct damage costs to health (i.e., excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation), is estimated to be between US$ 2-4 billion per year by 2030, it added. WHO said there has also been encouraging progress on commitments to decarbonisation and called for the creation of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty that would see coal and other fossil fuels harmful to the atmosphere phased out in a just and equitable way.

“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 2.4 million lives per year, through improved air quality and reduce global warming by about 0.5 °C by 2050,” the WHO said.