The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report calling for policies to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius has been getting the lion’s share of media attention at COP24, but the “SR/15” as it’s affectionately known is not the only special report in town. The World Health Organization (WHO) also got a homework assignment from the UNFCCC, and WHO’s COP24 Special Report Health and Climate Change deserves a close look from public health professionals and health policy advocates.
At a rollout of the new report, WHO representatives emphasized the growing concern among public health professionals over the negative impacts of climate change on human health, both directly and on social determinants of health. Representatives of the global medical community highlighted growing climate advocacy among health professionals and issued a Call to Action.
WHO representatives pointed out that addressing climate change also would reduce air pollution. In September, the United Nations General Assembly added air pollution, along with related environmental risk factors, to its list of priority risk factors for non-communicable diseases. According to the report, meeting the targets of the Paris climate agreement would be expected to save over one million lives a year from air pollution alone by 2050, and the value of the health gains would be approximately twice the cost of the policies needed to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. The report states that in the 15 countries that emit the most GHGs (one of which is the U.S.), the health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4% of GDP.
Failing to meet the emissions-reduction goals would have negative health impacts on a variety of fronts:
- Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
- Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea 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 USD 2-4 billion per year by 2030.
- Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.
- Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energy-use choices can result in improved health, particularly through reduced air pollution.
WHO’s report also points out opportunities for innovation and efficiency in health services and health care infrastructure from adopting emissions-reduction targets in the health sector.