WHO says Climate action at COP26 conference could save millions of lives a year
October 12, 2021, 2:50 am

WHO says Climate action at COP26 conference could save millions of lives a year

Climate change-Pollution/Pixabay

The Channel News Asia reported according to media outlets, the World Health Organization and about three-quarters of global health care workers on Monday (Oct 11) called on governments to step up climate action at the COP26 global climate conference, saying it could save millions of lives a year.

The UN health agency's report on climate change and health calls for transformational action in every sector including energy, transport and finance, saying the public health benefits of ambitious climate actions far outweigh the costs.

The WHO said on Monday: "The burning of fossil fuels is killing us. Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity."

The WHO has previously said about 13.7 million deaths a year, or around 24.3 per cent of the global total, were due to environmental risks such as air pollution and chemical exposure.

It is not clear exactly how many of those are directly linked to climate change, although the WHO's Maria Neira said about 80 per cent of the deaths from air pollution could be prevented through compliance with its guidelines.

Climate change is also stoking some infectious diseases such as dengue fever and malaria, causing deaths in some of the world's poorest regions, said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of a WHO climate change unit.

He said: "Our health is not negotiable: we are going into climate negotiations, we are negotiating many things but the life of a single child whether it is lost to air pollution or climate change is not something that should be on the table."

The report's release coincides with a letter backed by more than 400 health bodies representing more than 45 million nurses, doctors and medical professionals also calling for action.

Ruth Etzel with the International Pediatric Association said: "Paediatricians are speaking up because we do prevention, we give immunisations to prevent communicable diseases and we are speaking up now because we know that the health of the people and the health of the climate are one."

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council recognised access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, adding its weight to the fight against climate change.

Source: cna

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.