COP28 side event: Unbearable heat and unbreathable air – finding win–win solutions for climate and health
COP28 side event: Unbearable heat and unbreathable air – finding ... World Health Organization
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The recording is available on UNDESA’s YouTube channel here
The event will explain how extreme heat and polluted air, are the most direct outcomes of climate change and its drivers on health, and suggest win–win solutions, arguing for greater inclusion of health in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agenda.
Background
Extreme heat and polluted air are the most immediate and direct outcomes of climate change and its drivers on health – adding to the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the world’s biggest killers today.
NCDs are responsible for 74% of all deaths, mainly from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes, and mental health conditions.
While the climate crisis has received massive global attention, the most discussed health impacts so far have been related to infectious diseases. These include waterborne and vector-borne diseases that are expanding their range with global warming, as well as pathogens emerging from animal reservoirs subjected to climate-related impacts on habitats.
While these are important, the impact of climate on health due to a swelling burden of NCDs is potentially much larger – with growing proportion of the disease burden in developing countries.
Articles 1 and 3 of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) committed Parties to the Convention to mitigate adverse effects of climate change on human health and welfare. Even so, for the past 30 years, health has been largely ignored as an element of formal UNFCCC negotiations, and only this year, at COP28, are parties convening the first-ever “Health Day” at ministerial level.
This panel discussion will examine ways in which health impacts of climate change can be acknowledged and addressed, going forward, in both formal and informal fora. The specific focus of this event will be on climate-sensitive noncommunicable diseases, particularly those related to heat stress and air pollution.
Event description
During the event, panellists will first explain the evidence around the aforementioned climate, health and NCD linkages.
The event will then focus on win–win solutions that reduce climate and health hazards, through the phase out of fossil fuels, cooking on solid fuels and open-air burning will reduce health risks particularly among people living with chronic health conditions, and other vulnerable groups.
Finally, the event will discuss how health can be better incorporated into UNFCCC negotiations, national climate action plans, finance and reporting processes, as well as how health workers can play a role in reducing exposures by promoting greater awareness.
Date: 30 November 2023 13:00–14:00 (GMT+4) in the SDG pavilion – Blue Zone, Thematic Arena 3, Area B7, Building 88, Energy and Finance, 2nd floor, space TA3-210
Contact: Marit Pettersen
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