The climate crisis continues to make people sick and jeopardizes lives and therefore, health must be one of the central topics of the negotiations in COP27, the World Health Organization issued the grip reminder on the eve of the pivotal talks at COP27.
WHO believes the conference must conclude with progress on the four key goals of mitigation, adaptation, financing and collaboration to tackle the climate crisis. COP27 will be a crucial opportunity for the world to come together and re-commit to keeping the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal alive.
WHO welcomed journalists and COP27 participants at a series of high-level events and spent time in an innovative health pavilion space.
Climate change is already affecting people’s health and will continue to do so at an alarming rate unless urgent action is taken, WHO said in a message from Geneva.
“Climate change is making millions of people sick or more vulnerable to disease all over the world and the increasing destructiveness affecting the poor and marginalized communities,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“Leaders and decision makers must come together at the COP27 to put health at the heart of the negotiations,” he added.
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Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 2,50,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress, according to WHO.
The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between $2–4 billion per year by 2030.
The rise in global temperature has already brought intense heat waves, droughts, devastating floods, powerful hurricanes and tropical storms.
But there is room for hope, particularly if governments take action now to honour the pledges made at Glasgow in November 2021 and go further in resolving the climate crisis.
WHO is calling on governments to transition to a clean energy future.
There has also been encouraging progress on commitments taken last year to decarbonisation.
WHO is the custodian of 32 Sustainable Development Goal indicators, 17 of which are impacted by climate change or its drivers, and 16 of which specifically impact the health of children, the message also said.
