Climate Change is Single Biggest Health Threat Facing Humanity: Report

Geneva: The WHO COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health, launched Monday, in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, spells out the global health community’s prescription for climate action based on a growing body of research that establishes the many and inseparable links between climate and health.
 
"The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the intimate and delicate links between humans, animals and our environment," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in a press release on Monday. 
 
"The same unsustainable choices that are killing our planet are killing people. WHO calls on all countries to commit to decisive action at COP26 to limit global warming to 1.5°C – not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s in our own interests. WHO’s new report highlights 10 priorities for safeguarding the health of people and the planet that sustains us," he stated.

The WHO report is launched at the same time as an open letter, signed by over two thirds of the global health workforce - 300 organizations representing at least 45 million doctors and health professionals worldwide, calling for national leaders and COP26 country delegations to step up climate action.
 
"Wherever we deliver care, in our hospitals, clinics and communities around the world, we are already responding to the health harms caused by climate change," the letter from health professionals reads.
 
"We call on the leaders of every country and their representatives at COP26 to avert the impending health catastrophe by limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and to make human health and equity central to all climate change mitigation and adaptation actions," the letter reads.
 
The WHO report states that climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. 
 
While no one is safe from the health impacts of climate change, they are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.”
 
Meanwhile, air pollution, primarily the result of burning fossil fuels, which also drives climate change, causes 13 deaths per minute worldwide.
 
The report concludes that protecting people’s health requires transformational action in every sector, including on energy, transport, nature, food systems and finance. 
 
It states clearly that the public health benefits from implementing ambitious climate actions far outweigh the costs.
 
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