WHO calls for climate action to assure sustained recovery from Covid-19

The World Health Organisation has said that countries must set ambitious national climate commitments if they are to sustain a healthy and green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that countries must set ambitious national climate commitments if they are to sustain a healthy and green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This message comes as the WHO COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health was launched today, which highlights 10 priorities for safeguarding the health of people and the planet.

The report 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.

"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."

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 report and open letter come as unprecedented extreme weather events and other climate impacts are taking a rising toll on people's lives and health.

The WHO report states that the burning of fossil fuels is killing us and 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.

"It has never been clearer that the climate crisis is one of the most urgent health emergencies we all face," said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of Environment, Climate Change and Health.

"Bringing down air pollution to WHO guideline levels, for example, would reduce the total number of global deaths from air pollution by 80% while dramatically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change. A shift to more nutritious, plant-based diets in line with WHO recommendations, as another example, could reduce global emissions significantly, ensure more resilient food systems, and avoid up to 5.1 million diet-related deaths a year by 2050.