“Our focus is to put at the center of discussions the threat that the climate crisis poses to health and the enormous gains that would result from stronger climate action,” the WHO said in a statement released on the day it begins in Sharm el-Sheikh. , Egypt, the 27th UN summit on climate change, to discuss the fight against global warming and adaptation to climate change.
“Climate change is making millions of people sick or more vulnerable to disease around the world, and the increasing destructiveness of extreme weather events disproportionately affects poor and marginalized communities,” says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted. in the communiqué.
“It is crucial that leaders and decision-makers come together at COP27 to put health at the center of negotiations”, he adds.
The UN agency recalls that people’s health depends on the ecosystems that surround them, which are threatened, among others, by deforestation and rapid urban development.
“The increasing invasion of animal habitats is increasing opportunities for viruses harmful to humans to transition from their animal host”, he says, noting that “climate change is estimated to cause approximately more 250,000 deaths a year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress”.
The rise in global temperature and the resulting extreme weather events “means that the impact on human health is increasing and is likely to accelerate”.
According to the WHO, it is estimated that by 2030 the direct costs of damage to health will be between two and four billion dollars annually (slightly more in euros) .
“But there is room for hope, especially if governments act now to honor the promises made in Glasgow in November 2021 (COP26) and move forward in resolving the climate crisis.”
The UN agency suggests the “creation of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty that would eliminate coal and other fossil fuels harmful to the atmosphere in a fair and equitable manner”, which it considers “would represent one of the most significant contributions to the mitigation of climate change”.
“Investment in clean energy will yield health gains that will allow you to recover it twice”, he says, adding that “the cost of renewable energy sources has decreased significantly in recent years” and that “solar energy is now cheaper than coal or gas in most major economies”.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, participates in this Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which runs until the 18th.
PAL // ZO
