The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a statement urging countries to consider the impacts of climate change on human health during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC in order to reduce climate-related deaths and protect future generations' health.
WHO has also released a first set of climate change and health country profiles to support negotiators in considering health issues during COP 21.
17 November 2015: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a statement urging countries to consider the impacts of climate change on human health during the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC, in order to reduce climate-related deaths and protect future generations’ health. WHO has also released a first set of climate change and health country profiles to support negotiators in considering health issues during COP 21.
The statement outlines estimates of climate-related health impacts, including seven million deaths from air-pollution related diseases, and an expected additional 250,000 deaths per year from malaria, diarrhea, heat stress and under-nutrition between 2030 and 2050. WHO notes that actions to combat climate change have significant health benefits, such as 2.4 million avoided deaths per year from measures to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), and reducing deaths from outdoor air pollution through placing a price on polluting fuels.
WHO further notes that strengthening health resilience to climate risks would ensure that rising temperatures do not offset recent advances in the fight against climate-sensitive diseases.
Noting that the envisaged Paris climate agreement is also a public health treaty, the statement concludes that the health community should urge countries at COP 21 to commit to protecting the planet and human health from the impacts of climate change.
To support negotiators, WHO has released a first set of climate change and country profiles, which provide country-specific information on current and potential future impacts climate change on human health and existing policy responses. The profiles released cover the following countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and Tanzania. Additional profiles will be published in December and early 2016. [WHO Statement] [UN Press Release] [Climate and Health Country Profiles] [Climate and Health Global Overview]