“The climate crisis is killing us”: international medical experts denounce this Wednesday the excessive global dependence on fossil fuels, at the origin of climate change, which has harmful effects on health.
“The world is at a tipping point. (…) We must change. Otherwise, our children will face an acceleration of climate change that would threaten their survival,” warns Anthony Costello, professor and co-chair of the Lancet Countdown, an annual study conducted by 99 experts from 51 institutions.
As countries and health systems grapple with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, the analysis, released days before the opening of the UN’s COP27 climate meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, highlights that the vast majority of countries still allocate hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to fossil fuels, amounts comparable to or even higher than their health budgets.
Spread of infectious diseases
However, “the excessive and persistent dependence on fossil fuels is rapidly aggravating climate change” and “generating dangerous repercussions for health,” the study underlines.
Rising temperatures and extreme weather events leave nearly 100 million more people severely food insecure today than in the period 1981-2010. Meanwhile, heat-related deaths increased 68% between 2017 and 2021 compared to 2000-2004, and human exposure to high fire risk days increased 61% over similar periods.
Climate change also affects the spread of infectious diseases, the report shows. The window of opportunity for malaria transmission has increased by almost a third (32.1%) in parts of the Americas and by 14% in Africa over the last decade, compared to the period 1951-1960. Globally, the risk of dengue transmission increased by 12% during the period.
250,000 additional deaths per year in 2030
“The climate crisis is killing us. It is damaging not only the health of our planet, but also that of all its inhabitants (…) while the addiction to fossil fuels is getting out of control”, reacted the secretary general of the UN Antonio Guterres.
A year ago, the WHO estimated that between 2030 and 2050, almost 250,000 additional deaths per year would be attributable to climate change.
According to the study, countries themselves contribute to these health crises by subsidizing fossil fuels: 69 of the 86 governments analyzed subsidize the production and consumption of fossil fuels, for a net total of $400 billion in 2019.
“The current strategies of many governments and corporations will lock the world into a fatally warmer future, tying us to the use of fossil fuels that is rapidly excluding us from the prospects of a livable world,” said Paul Ekins, professor of resources and political science at the Bartlett School of University College London.
Source: BFM TV
