The World Health Organization (WHO) calls for a farewell to fossil fuels before the UN climate summit in Glasgow and warns of the climate crisis with clear words.
Glasgow – The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of a medical disaster due to climate change and the continued unchecked use of coal, oil and natural gas. In a new report, presented in the run-up to the UN climate summit in Glasgow in early November, there are dramatic words: “The burning of fossil fuels is killing us. Climate change is the greatest threat to human health. ”At the summit, governments would have to set ambitious national CO2 reduction targets in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. This also helps to ensure a sustainable recovery from the corona pandemic.
WHO on the climate crisis: Extreme weather events threaten health
WHO stressed that unprecedented extreme weather events and other climate impacts are increasingly affecting people’s lives and health, while threatening health systems and facilities when they are most needed. They also endanger food security and fuel numerous diseases, including infectious diseases such as malaria. In addition, climate change also affects mental health.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commented that Corona had made clear the close relationships between humans, animals and our environment. “The same unsustainable decisions that destroy our planet also destroy people.” His organization therefore calls on all countries to commit to decisive action in Glasgow to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. If the states still achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, millions of lives could be saved, according to the WHO.
WHO report on climate crisis: 13 deaths per minute from air pollution
In order to keep the 1.5 degree limit within reach, global CO2 emissions would have to be roughly halved by 2030. So far, the pledges of governments, if they are kept, are far from being sufficient for this. Emissions are even expected to increase by the end of the decade.
According to the WHO report on climate change and health, air pollution, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels, is responsible for the premature death of nearly seven million people each year – 13 victims per minute.
UN for children’s rights
A UN committee has for the first time recognized the responsibility of states for the harmful effects of climate change on children’s rights. A state could be held accountable for the consequences of global warming inside and outside its territory, the Committee on the Rights of the Child decided, according to a UN statement in Geneva on Monday.
WHO report on the climate crisis: renouncing fossil fuels has two benefits
According to the WHO, switching to CO2-free energies would have doubly positive consequences. “For example, reducing air pollution to the level of WHO guidelines would reduce the total number of deaths from air pollution worldwide by 80 percent,” said WHO Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health, Maria Neira. At the same time, it would also drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The organization only tightened its recommendations for limit values for fine dust and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) last month. The new WHO values are exceeded in many metropolitan areas and cities around the world – according to the Federal Environment Agency, also in large parts of Germany.
WHO presents ten-point plan for climate protection, health and social justice at the center
The report concludes that protecting the climate and protecting human health requires changes in every sector, including energy, transport, nature conservation, food production and finance. The public health benefits will far outweigh the costs. “It has never been clearer that the climate crisis is one of the most urgent health crises that we all face,” said Neira.
In a ten-point plan, the WHO called on the Glasgow summit for climate protection that focuses on health and social justice. This applies, among other things, to urban and transport planning, the protection of natural spaces and healthy and sustainable food systems.
Climate crisis: Healthcare professionals warn of worse consequences than Corona
In parallel with the WHO report, an open letter was published by 300 organizations representing approximately 45 million health professionals – about three-quarters of the world’s health workforce. It is also addressed to the delegations at the climate summit. It says: “Wherever we provide care, we are already reacting in our clinics around the world to the damage to health caused by climate change.” The climate crisis is accelerating quickly and will be “far more catastrophic and lasting longer than the Covid -19 pandemic “.
The organizations urge rich countries to lead the way in switching to green energy and help poorer countries to follow suit. To do this, all permits, subsidies and financing for fossil fuels would have to be canceled and the funds would have to be redeployed into the expansion of clean energy. In addition, countries should build “climate resilient, low-carbon and sustainable health systems”. Another point: “We call on governments to ensure that investments in pandemic preparedness support climate measures and reduce social and health inequalities.” (Joachim Wille)
