Climate change ‘poses a major threat to global health’

A new report has called for concerted efforts to tackle climate change as a means of bolstering global healthcare standards.

Compiled by a commission of European and Chinese scientists and experts from multiple fields, the report indicated that if left unchecked, climate change has the potential to undermine the last 50 years of gains in development and global health.

This effect will be caused by the direct impact of increasingly frequent and intense weather events, especially heat waves, floods, droughts and storms, as well as indirect impacts from changes in infectious disease patterns, air pollution, food insecurity and malnutrition, involuntary migration, displacement and conflicts.

By contrast, there are a number of actions that can be taken on climate change that offer immediate health gains. Burning fewer fossil fuels reduces respiratory diseases, for example, while active transport can cut pollution and road traffic accidents, while reducing rates of obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

There are also health benefits from changes to diet which might arise from a concerted effort to tackle climate change, such as eating less red meat.

Commission co-chair Professor Anthony Costello, director of the University College London Institute for Global Health, said: "Our analysis clearly shows that by tackling climate change, we can also benefit health, and tackling climate change in fact represents one of the greatest opportunities to benefit human health for generations to come."