The World Health Organization has called climate change the “single biggest threat facing humanity” as it carries far-reaching consequences for human health.
The climate crisis drives extreme weather events such as cyclones and intense heat waves that take lives, fuel the spread of infectious diseases, as well as exacerbating mental health issues with its role in the uncertainty surrounding the future of the planet.
“We really need to push this very, very important fact that you cannot separate our human health from the health of the planet, and we need each of these to be in good health. So it’s all interlinked,” Jemilah Mahmood, executive director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Malaysia said at the Asia-Pacific Climate Week.
Renzo Guinto, chief planetary health scientist of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, emphasized that the adverse health effects linked to climate change disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations such as women and children.
In an open letter, health professionals have urged the COP28 presidency and the world leaders gathering in Dubai to commit to an accelerated phase out of fossil fuels and a just and equitable clean energy transition “as the decisive path to health for all.”
They also called on wealthy economies, development finance institutions and the private sector to increase and fulfill their commitments to drive investments in clean energy, clean air, and economic development for communities most harmed by the climate crisis.
“Without ambitious climate action, the burden on healthcare systems and healthcare workers will be insurmountable. Health gains made in recent decades will be in vain and we will see the harmful impacts of climate change ruin our chances for a safe, equitable, and just future,” read the letter, which included St. Luke’s Medical Center and St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo.
While climate scientists have said that urgent and ambitious action to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is needed to secure a liveable future for all, the current greenhouse gas cutting pledges put Earth on track to warm up to a catastrophic 2.9 degrees Celsius this century, the United Nations Environmental Programme warned.
We already know by now that the impact of climate change on humanity is going to be devastating, and yet not enough global action is being taken to slow it down through cutting greenhouse gas emissions. At the rate we are going, we will either have to commit to doing more to reduce emissions on a larger scale that we are doing right now, or invest more in shoring up the health care system that will come under more stress as the planet heats up due to human activities and irresponsibility.*
