Urgently Need Integration Of Climate Change Mitigation Into Covid-19 Recovery Plans: Lancet Report

The Lancet Countdown's Sixth Annual Report urges governments to use part of the money committed to Covid-19 recovery plans to mitigate climate change for a sustainable future

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New Delhi: The Lancet Countdown's sixth annual report on 'Health and climate change: code red for a healthy future' highlights the increasing risks to health and climate. It mentions 44 indicators of health impacts directly linked to climate change. Due to the risks, health hazards are becoming increasingly severe. The communities where food and water insecurity is prevalent, and which are exposed to the spread of infections diseases, are suffering the most. The authors of the report claim that urgent action is required to integrate climate change mitigation into Covid-19 recovery plans and build a sustainable future for all.

Link Between Healthcare Systems And Climate Change

Many Covid-19 recovery plans have long-term health implications as they are not compatible with the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015. 

The world continues to subsidise fossil fuels despite the fact that burning them causes environmental pollution. The 82 countries surveyed by Lancet Countdown researchers in 2018 were found to be responsible for around 92 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. 

Adults above the age of 65 were affected by 3.1 billion more days of heatwave exposure than in the baseline average from 1986 to 2005. The most affected senior citizens were from China, India, America, Japan, and Indonesia.

Transmission of infectious diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika, malaria, and cholera, becomes favourable due to climate change. 

In the future, there will be climate-induced health shocks, but healthcare systems are not properly prepared for them. Even now, the healthcare systems are ill-prepared. A climate change and health vulnerability assessment was carried out in only 45 out of 91 countries in 2021, according to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc since 2020, which is why there is a need for increased international co-operation. Governments and politicians must take action at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12. To ensure improved health and a more equitable and sustainable future, there should be a rapid reduction in carbon emissions by countries. 

The economies of all countries have faced a major blow due to the pandemic. In order to restart their economies, countries have committed trillions of dollars. The authors of the Lancet report have urged policy leaders to use the money to reduce inequities. Healthier populations could be built by creating new and green jobs (jobs that contribute to the restoration of the environment), and safeguarding health. 

The large subsidies for fossil fuels and limited financial support for clean energy, make it impossible to meet the maximum of 1.5°C of warming, the prime objective of the Paris Agreement. The people living in low-income countries are affected the most due to limited financial support for clean energy. The contributions made by these countries to climate change are relatively the least. The government should promote jobs in zero-carbon energy in order to achieve the goal of a maximum 1.5°C of warming. 

The WHO survey of health and climate change conducted in 2021 shows that 45 out of the 91 countries analysed had a national health and climate change strategy. Out of these countries, only eight countries reported that human and financial resources were allocated to improve the health of citizens after the assessment found that climate change affected their health. Also, 69 per cent of the 91 countries reported that they were unable to implement their climate change plans due to insufficient financing.

Unabated Rise In Health Impacts Of Climate Change

The consensus of leading researchers from 38 academic institutions and UN agencies is represented by the Lancet Countdown report. The report mentions that there is an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change.

In countries with a very high human development index, including European countries, there is a rapidly increasing potential for outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The cooler highland areas of countries with a low human development index are witnessing an increase in the suitability for malaria infections. 

People living in coasts around northern Europe and the US are more likely to be infected by bacteria that cause gastroenteritis, severe wound infections, and sepsis. Such an increase in the spread of infectious diseases is also observed in countries with limited resources. 

The people who live less than five metres above current sea levels are prone to risks of increased flooding, more severe storms, and soil and water salinification. Around 569.6 million people could face this situation, and many of them could be left with no choice but to evacuate their homes and migrate further inland. 

Maria Romanello, the lead author of the Lancet Countdown report, expressed concern over the fact that there had been very little improvement in areas such as emissions reduction, promotion of renewable energy, and tackling pollution, according to a Lancet statement. Many people were affected by intense heat waves, deadly floods, and wildfires this year, she added. 

She said that governments spending trillions of dollars on Covid-19 recovery plans gives us an opportunity to take a safer, healthier, low carbon path, but this path has not been chosen yet. 

She added that as we recover from Covid-19, we still have the time to take a different path and create a healthier future for all.

Key Findings Of The Lancet Countdown Report

The inequities in the global response to climate change are exposed by the data in the report. The countries with the lowest human development index are often the least responsible for rising greenhouse gas emissions. However, they do not put fewer efforts into climate change adaption and mitigation and do not realise the associated health benefits of accelerated decarbonisation. 

Extreme drought in any given month in the year 2020 had affected up to 19 per cent of the global land surface. This is alarming because the value had never gone beyond 13 per cent between 1950 and 1999. Drought events are intensified and become more frequent due to climate change. There is an increased risk of wildfires, and pollutant exposure, and water security, sanitation, and food productivity are threatened. One of the most affected areas in 2020 was the Horn of Africa, as it was impacted by recurrent extreme droughts and food insecurity.

In 2019, 2 billion people were affected due to food insecurity accelerated by climate change. The time required for plants to mature decreases with rising temperatures, implying that yields are reduced, and the strain on food systems is increased. 

For instance, the decrease in crop yield potential for maize, wheat, and rice has been six per cent, three per cent, and 1.8 per cent respectively, compared to the crop yield potential levels from 1981 to 2010.

As many as 136 coastal countries were analysed, nearly 70 per cent of which witnessed an increase in the average sea surface temperature of territorial waters. Since 3.3 billion people worldwide depend on marine food, this rise in sea surface temperature implies an increasing threat to their marine food security.

WHO had conducted a Health and Climate Change Global Survey in 2021, to which 70 countries answered. Some of these countries claimed that Covid-19 restrictions and a lack of research and evidence prevented them from developing a national health and climate change strategy.

Out of the total global climate change adaptation funding, just 0.3 per cent is directed at health systems.