WHO Says Six Climate and Health Actions Could Save 1.6 Million Lives a Year
A new World Health Organization report released ahead of COP31 says six actions, from heat warning systems to cleaner cooking fuels, could prevent 1.6 million deaths a year and avoid 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that six climate and health actions could save nearly 1.6 million lives a year, according to a new report released ahead of the COP31 climate talks in Türkiye beginning next week. The report is titled “Global Benefits and Costs of Prioritized Actions on Climate Change and Health.”
The six actions are heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water services, basic sanitation, hygiene and handwashing facilities, cleaner household fuels and technologies for cooking and heating, and efficient fossil fuel pricing policies, according to UN News and AFP reporting carried by Phys.org.
What the six actions cover
Heat-health warning systems are meant to warn people before dangerous temperatures arrive. The WHO said an estimated 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in settings highly exposed to climate change, according to UN News. “We are asking the countries there to negotiate as if people’s lives depend on it, because they do,” said Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of the WHO’s climate change, air quality, energy and health unit.
The water and sanitation actions cover drinking water services and infrastructure that can withstand climate shocks, along with basic sanitation and handwashing facilities. Those measures are aimed at communities where floods, droughts and damaged systems can cut off safe water and spread disease.
Cleaner household fuels and technologies for cooking and heating are also on the list, replacing smoky fuels used inside homes. The WHO said much of the harm caused by climate change can be prevented with tools that already exist.
Emissions, money and limits
Along with the lives saved, the report said the six actions could help avoid 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, and could generate up to $5.4 trillion in fiscal benefits a year plus a nearly $4 trillion economic gain from lives saved, disasters avoided and lower health care costs. Efficient fossil fuel pricing alone could prevent 1.2 million deaths a year from reduced air pollution, according to UN News.
The WHO acknowledged limits in its own numbers: the report relied on ambitious scenarios for putting all six actions in place worldwide, and there are gaps in the data and uncertainty in long-term projections. “The climate crisis is a health crisis, but much of the harm it causes can be prevented with tools we already have,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. He urged governments heading to COP31 to put protecting health at the center of climate action.
Reporting based on coverage by UN News and AFP via Phys.org.
