10 of the WHO calls for climate action to ensure a lasting recovery from COVID-19

Countries must set ambitious national climate commitments if they are to maintain a healthy and green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO COP26 Special report on climate change and health, launched today, ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, sets out the global health community’s recipe for climate action based on a growing body of research establishing many and inseparable links between climate. and health.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the intimate and sensitive links between humans, animals and our environment,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The same unsustainable elections that are killing our planet are killing people. The WHO calls on all countries to commit to decisive action at COP26 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C – not only because it is right, but also because of our own interest. A new WHO report highlights 10 priorities for preserving human health and the planet that sustains us. ”

The WHO report was launched at the same time as open letter, was signed by more than two-thirds of the global health workforce – 300 organizations representing at least 45 million doctors and health professionals worldwide, urging national leaders and delegations from COP26 countries to step up climate action.

“Wherever we provide care, in our hospitals, clinics and communities around the world, we are already responding to the health damage caused by climate change,” the letter said. “We call on the leaders of all countries and their representatives at COP26 to prevent the impending health catastrophe by limiting global warming to 1.5 ° C, and to make human health and equality central to all climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.”

The report and open letter come as unprecedented extreme weather events and other climatic influences take an increasing toll on people’s lives and health. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heat, storms and floods, are killing thousands and disrupting millions of lives, and threatening health systems and facilities when they are most needed. Changes in weather and climate threaten food safety and increase food-borne, water-borne and vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, while climate impacts also negatively affect mental health.

The WHO report states: “Combustion of fossil fuels is killing us. Climate change is the greatest threat to the health facing humanity. While no one is safe from the impact of climate change on health, they are the most vulnerable and most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, air pollution, primarily the result of burning fossil fuels, which also fuels climate change, causes 13 deaths per minute worldwide.

The report concludes that protecting human health requires transformational actions in every sector, including energy, transport, nature, food systems and finance. And it clearly states that the public health benefits of implementing ambitious climate actions far outweigh the costs.

“It has never been clearer that the climate crisis is one of the most urgent health situations we all face,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director for the Environment, Climate Change and Health. “Reducing air pollution to the level of WHO guidelines, for example, would reduce the total number of global air pollution deaths by 80%, while dramatically reducing climate-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to a more nutritious plant diet in line with WHO recommendations, as another example, could significantly reduce global emissions, ensure more resilient food systems and avoid up to 5.1 million deaths per year by 2050. ”

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement would save millions of lives each year by improving air quality, nutrition and physical activity, among other benefits. However, most climate decision-making processes currently do not take into account these health benefits and their economic value.

Notes for editors:

WHO Special Report COP26 on Climate Change and Health, A health argument for climate action, provides 10 recommendations for governments on how to make the most of the health benefits of combating climate change in different sectors and avoiding the worst health consequences of the climate crisis.

The recommendations are the result of extensive consultations with health professionals, organizations and stakeholders around the world, and represent a broad statement by the global health community on consensus on priority measures governments must take to address the climate crisis, restore biodiversity and protect health.

Climate and health recommendations

The COP26 report includes ten recommendations highlighting the urgent need and numerous opportunities for governments to prioritize health and equity in the international climate regime and the sustainable development agenda.

1. Commit to a healthy recovery. Commit to a healthy, green and fair recovery from COVID-19.
2. Our health cannot be negotiated. Put health and social justice at the heart of the UN climate negotiations.
3. Take advantage of the health benefits of climate measures. Prioritize these climate interventions with the greatest health, social, and economic benefits.
4. Build health resilience to climate risks. Build climate-resistant and environmentally sustainable health systems and facilities and support health adaptation and resilience in all sectors.
5. Create energy systems that protect and improve climate and health. Lead a fair and inclusive transition to renewable energy to save lives from air pollution, especially from coal combustion. End energy poverty in households and health facilities.
6. Change the urban environment, transportation and mobility. Promote sustainable, healthy urban design and transport systems with improved land use, access to green and blue public space and priority for walking, cycling and public transport.
7. Let’s protect and renew nature as the foundation of our health. Protect and restore natural systems, the foundations of healthy living, sustainable food systems and livelihoods.
8. Promote healthy, sustainable and resilient food systems. Promote sustainable and resilient food production and a more affordable, nutritious diet that achieves both climate and health outcomes.
9. Fund a healthier, fairer and greener life-saving future. The transition to a welfare economy.
10. Listen to the health community and prescribe emergency climate measures. Mobilize and support the health community in climate action.

Open letter – a recipe for a healthy climate

Health community worldwide (300 organizations representing at least 45 million physicians and health professionals) signed an open letter to national leaders and COP26 delegations, calling for real measures to address the climate crisis.

The letter states the following requirements:

• “We call on all nations to update their national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement to commit to limiting warming to 1.5 ° C; and we urge them to incorporate health into those plans;
• We call on all nations to bring about a rapid and equitable transition from fossil fuels, starting with the immediate abolition of all related fossil fuel permits, subsidies and funding, and to completely shift current funding to clean energy development;
• We call on high-income countries to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the 1.5 ° C temperature target;
• We call on high-income countries to also ensure the promised transfer of funds to low-income countries to help achieve the necessary mitigation and adjustment measures;
• We call on governments to build climate-resilient, low-carbon, sustainable health systems; and
• We call on governments to also ensure that investments in pandemic recovery support climate action and reduce social and health inequalities. ”