Health must be put at the heart of national climate plans
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With November’s Cop26 fast approaching, this World Health Day message should inspire governments to both take responsibility and to seize the opportunity to commit to ambitious emissions reductions targets, aligned with the Paris Agreement, in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and to make health and equity a central focus of national climate policies.
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In 2020, The World Health Organization and associations representing over 40 million health professionals called for a “green and healthy” COVID-19 recovery. The pandemic has taught that health must be part and parcel of every government policy – including climate policy. A multinational study of doctors’ and nurses’ understanding of and views on climate change, which will be published on 7 April by The Lancet Planetary Health, found that a vast majority of survey respondents believe the health community should have a say in pushing for national policies that will protect health by meeting the targets of the Paris Agreement.
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A country with a healthy national climate action commitment will recognise the impacts of climate change on health, and the need for health and equity to be integrated into adaptation planning. It will set out interventions that reduce emissions and also offer immediate and local health benefits, such as improved air quality, healthier diets, and increased physical activity. Such a country must be ambitious enough to do its fair share to limit warming to 1.5C. Health benefits of climate solutions will help offset the economic costs of climate mitigation and adaptation. Governments can protect their citizens’ health – and prevent millions of untimely deaths – by embedding health in national climate policies.
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