22 June 2015: The 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change was established to map out the impacts of climate change and the necessary policy responses to ensure the highest attainable health standards worldwide. The Commission has released a report titled ‘Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health,’ identifying key messages and recommendations to accelerate action in the next five years.

According to the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, the effects of climate change are being felt today, and future projections represent an unacceptably high and potentially catastrophic risk to human health. It concludes that tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century.

The Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change recommends that governments: invest in climate change and public health research, monitoring and surveillance; scale up financing for climate-resilient health systems worldwide; protect cardiovascular and respiratory health by ensuring a rapid phase-out of coal from the global energy mix; and encourage a transition to cities that support and promote lifestyles that are healthy for the individual and for the planet.

The Commission further concludes that achieving a decarbonized global economy and securing the public health benefits it offers is not only a technical or economic question but primarily a political one. It recommends that, over the next five years, governments: establish a framework for a strong and predictable international carbon pricing mechanism; rapidly expand access to renewable energy in low- and middle-income countries; and support accurate quantification of the avoided burden of disease, reduced healthcare costs, as well as enhanced economic productivity associated with climate change mitigation.

Concluding that the health community has a vital part to play in accelerating progress to tackle climate change, the Commission recommends that, over the next five years, governments: facilitate collaboration between ministries of health and other government departments; and agree and implement an international agreement that supports countries in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

In turn, the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change commits to develop a new, independent ‘Countdown to 2030: Global Health and Climate Action,’ to provide expertise in implementing policies on climate change mitigation and public health, and to monitor progress over the next 15 years. [Publication: Health and Climate Change: Policy Responses to Protect Public Health] [UNFCCC Press Release] [ILRI Press Release]