As communities around the world experience wide-ranging problems from the climate crisis, health will be firmly on the agenda at the global Conference of the Parties (COP28) negotiations on climate change in Dubai, from 30 November to 12 December.
But will the power and influence of health advocates be sufficient to trump the power and influence of the fossil fuels industry?
Join us at the hashtag #HealthyCOP28 to follow related discussions.
Melissa Sweet writes:
As global climate negotiations open today in the United Arab Emirates, health advocates are pushing for a strong focus on health, climate justice and the phase out of fossil fuels.
Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney, will join more than 50 other health ministers from around the globe at the COP’s first Health Day, on 3 December. Many Australian researchers and health advocates are also attending the COP (see details of some related events here).
Kearney has had charge of the development of Australia’s long-awaited National Health and Climate Strategy, whose release is imminent.
A spokesperson from her office told Croakey this week that Kearney would be at COP from 2-4 December, and that representatives from the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care also would be attending.
The COP takes place amid alarming evidence about the escalation of climate disruption, and the inadequacy of global responses in mitigation and adaptation.
It also takes place amid ongoing concern about the political and economic power of the fossil fuels industry, which sees countries like Australia continuing to approve new fossil fuels projects and to subsidise the industry.
Meanwhile, a recent investigation by the Centre for Climate Reporting and the BBC, alleges the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, sought to lobby on oil and gas deals during meetings with foreign governments about the UN climate summit, according to a cache of internal records leaked by a whistle-blower.
Al Jaber, who has continued his role as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) despite calls for him to step down during his COP presidency, has held scores of meetings with senior government officials, royalty and business leaders in recent months.
The COP28 team had planned to use this access as an opportunity to increase exports of Adnoc’s oil and gas, according to briefings prepared ahead of those meetings obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting. Al Jaber has denied the allegations.
World Health Organization priorities
During COP, WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will make three specific calls: for government and industry leaders to work together to phase out fossil fuels urgently; for climate-friendly health systems; and for governments and investors to redirect fossil fuel subsidies to health protection and promotion.
In a media briefing on 29 November, Dr Tedros said fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
“Weaning the world off fossil fuels is therefore the only way for countries to meet their commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is a public health imperative.”
As well as decarbonising health systems, the world needs to continue to strengthen health systems to be more climate-resilient.
“That means strengthening the health workforce and disease surveillance systems, building on investments that many countries made during the COVID-19 pandemic. And it means scaling up vector control and access to safe water and sanitation.
Dr Tedros said the health sector is at the frontline of the climate crisis, but receives just half of one percent of global climate financing.
“The world spends trillions of dollars of public moneys in fossil fuel subsidies every year. We call on governments and investors to redirect those funds to protecting and promoting the health of our planet, and the health of people.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 3.5 billion people, nearly half of humanity, live in areas highly vulnerable to the climate crisis.
This year alone, catastrophic flooding in Libya and the Horn of Africa has cost lives and livelihoods, and just this week Brazil hit record temperatures.
“An unhealthy planet means unhealthy people,” Dr Tedros said.
Heat-related deaths among people aged over 65 years have climbed by 70 percent globally in two decades, while seven million people die from air pollution annually, he said.
As well, changing weather patterns, driven by human activity and the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to record numbers of cholera outbreaks, and expanding the range of mosquitoes, which carry dangerous pathogens like dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever into places that have never dealt with them before.
Hard-hit communities
The international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has outlined how the climate crisis is affecting its work in a statement ahead of the COP, warning that too little is being done to protect the most vulnerable people against the negative impacts of climate change.
In 2023, MSF has responded to widespread flooding in South Sudan, severe cyclones in Myanmar, Madagascar and Mozambique, and relentless heat and extended droughts that have driven millions to the edge of starvation throughout the Horn of Africa.
The organisation has also responded to multiple concurrent cholera outbreaks in several countries and alarmingly high rates of dengue across the Americas. The deadly mix of malaria and malnutrition has kept our paediatric wards full across the Sahel, including in eastern Chad, where people fled to from gruesome conflict in Sudan.
“This is happening because global political leadership has failed to deliver on commitments to curb emissions and deliver on their promises to support the most affected countries to adapt,” the statement said.
“The world’s most vulnerable people are paying with their health and their lives for a problem they did not create,” says Dr Christos Christou, MSF International President.
“It is both absurd and tragic that those who are the least responsible for the emissions that generate the climate emergency are left to suffer the consequences. This shows that we are not just in a crisis of climate, but also in a crisis of humanity and solidarity.”
Reading and resources
- Watch this briefing, 2023 climate negotiations and health
- A recommended LongRead in The Guardian: Cop28: what could the climate conference achieve?
- The Global Climate and Health Alliance COP28 Hub
From X/Twitter
Follow Croakey’s #HealthyCOP28 coverage.
Support our ongoing focus on climate and health by becoming a regular donor to our climate health journalism fund
We need your help!
