{"id":50387926,"date":"2024-01-18T13:06:27","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T13:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogochino.net\/?p=387926"},"modified":"2024-04-11T15:47:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T15:47:30","slug":"387926-climate-change-and-health-how-can-progress-be-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/387926-climate-change-and-health-how-can-progress-be-made\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change and health: How can progress be made?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last year, the world emerged from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic only to face a spate of weather disasters, and the hottest<\/a> 12 months on record. The topic of climate change and health, their interrelated causes and solutions, has become more important than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health became a focus at the COP28 UN climate change conference in Dubai, where fossil fuels and energy targets largely took centre stage<\/a>. The UAE presidency put the topic on the agenda with the first ever health-themed day at a COP, and first climate-health ministerial meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Dubai, 143 nations including China and 20 Latin American and Caribbean states, signed the Declaration on Climate and Health<\/a>. According to a press release<\/a>, the declaration aims to \u201cplace health at the heart of climate action\u201d and is the first time governments have come together to acknowledge their responsibility to \u201cprotect communities and prepare healthcare systems to cope with climate-related health impacts such as extreme heat, air pollution and infectious diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study<\/a> published on the eve of COP28 found that the number of people who die prematurely every year from air pollution has risen to 8.3 million. It further found that 5 million of those deaths are tied to pollution from fossil fuel use, though the declaration does not mention fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat-related illness and deaths are also on the rise, with 189 million people exposed every year to extreme weather-related events, according to the COP press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What explains the sudden interest in health issues at COP28? And how might the introduction of climate-and-health-related objectives translate into action at the national level?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/div>
An elderly man suffering from heat-related sickness is brought to an overcrowded hospital in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, India, 19 June 2023 (Image: Rajesh Kumar Singh \/ AP via Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

About time: Adapting the health sector to climate change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The attention given to health issues at COP28 reflects the importance attached to the topic following Covid-19, according to Wenjia Cai, director of Lancet Countdown Asia, and a professor in earth system science at Beijing\u2019s Tsinghua University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address the nexus between climate change and health, the declaration focuses on enhancing the health sector\u2019s capacity for adapting to climate change. Its stated objectives include: working with the most climate-vulnerable peoples to boost the roll out of adaptation policies; improving the capacity of health systems to respond to climate-sensitive diseases; attending to the effects of climate impacts on human wellbeing; and mitigating future pandemics by enhancing the detection of diseases that spill over to humans from other animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also featured are the objectives of combatting inequalities among countries, eradicating poverty and famine, improving food nutrition and security, and enhancing climate adaptation in agriculture, housing, transport and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While climate adaptation in healthcare is very important, burning fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change<\/blockquote>Yuan Yating, analyst at iGDP, a Beijing-based thinktank<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As these goals show, health is intertwined with a great many other climate-related issues and encompasses many aspects of wellbeing. The impact of climate change on health \u2013 both direct and indirect \u2013 cannot be ignored, and the issue of adapting the health sector to a climate-changed world must be addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sixth Assessment Report<\/a> of the IPCC, the UN\u2019s climate science body, indicates that climate change is having a serious impact on human health, with an additional 2.5 million deaths per year expected globally by 2100 as a result of it, Cai points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe amount of investment in health-related research has grown significantly in recent years,\u201d says Cai. \u201cThe US, for example, invested US$260 million into climate-and-health research in 2023, eight times more than in 2022, and the focus on climate and health from other major economies has also increased significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financing: $2.7 billion promised for health<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The question of financing goes to the heart of everything. On the same day the declaration was signed, the UK, Asian Development Bank and nine charitable foundations pledged $1 billion to tackle the climate\u2013health crisis. On Health Day, the UAE, along with several philanthropies, announced $777 million<\/a> for eradicating neglected tropical diseases. So, in just two days, combined financing commitments reached $1.777 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount seemed to have risen further at a press conference<\/a> given by the presidency on 4 December. Taking stock of the previous four days, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber said that $2.7 billion had been committed to healthcare, though he did not specify where the additional $1 billion came from. (The COP28 press office has been approached for comment on this figure.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a<\/div>
At the recent UN climate summit, the United Arab Emirates and several other donors promised to give nearly US$800 million toward eradicating tropical diseases, which are expected to worsen as fossil fuel emissions continue to push up global temperature (Image: Christopher Edralin<\/a> \/ UN climate change<\/a>, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Details are lacking on how those funds will be used to help healthcare systems tackle climate change, says Yuan Yating, assistant analyst at the Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress (iGDP), a Beijing-based thinktank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCountries\u2019 ability to engage in climate adaptation and mitigation largely depends on their fiscal capacity,\u201d she says. \u201cBut those that are most vulnerable to climate change \u2013 developing countries and small island states, for example \u2013 often have to rely on international fiscal support for action on climate. At present, only 2% of climate adaptation funding and 0.5% of multilateral climate funding is available to be spent on health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuan adds: \u201cThat money can still make a big difference if used for energy efficiency and carbon reduction in developing countries\u2019 healthcare systems. While climate adaptation in healthcare is very important, burning fossil fuels is the main driver of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing health into national climate plans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Significantly, the declaration sets out that signee nations will \u201c[take] health into account, as appropriate, in designing the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs)\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>
Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

NDCs are the climate action plans that every UN member state must submit every five years, with the next instalments being due in 2025. How will nations incorporate health issues into their NDCs? For Wenjia Cai, three elements are involved: principle, action and objective-setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, says Cai, the core purpose of tackling climate change is to protect life and health, and this should be written into NDCs as the \u201cguiding principle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then comes action, Cai explains: \u201cIf three projects for action on climate are backed with similar levels of investment, but one delivers greater health benefits, then that one can get higher priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, objective-setting, meaning that health impacts are taken into account when setting targets for emissions reduction. \u201cIf incorporating public health impacts into emissions reduction targets reveals that keeping temperature rise within 2C is not a bold enough ambition, then efforts should focus on 1.5C instead,\u201d Cai adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reducing emissions from the health sector<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to adaptation, the declaration also targets mitigation, that is, the reduction of carbon emissions from healthcare itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sector is estimated to be responsible for about 5%<\/a> of global greenhouse gas emissions, and at current rates of growth, these emissions could triple by 2050. They come from three sources: directly from healthcare facilities (including ambulances); from electricity generation to power such facilities; and indirect emissions from supply chains, including from producing and transporting medicine, food and hospital equipment. These indirect emissions account for the bulk (71%) of healthcare emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n