Health and the climate are inextricably linked, and today the health of billions is endangered by the climate crisis.
Climate change is undermining not just the health of our planet, but the health of people everywhere – through toxic air pollution, diminishing food security, higher risks of infectious disease outbreaks, extreme heat, drought, floods and more.
Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress, according to the World Health Organization. And by 2030, the direct health costs caused by climate change are estimated to be between US$2 billion and 4 billion a year.
Climate change also exacerbates many social and environmental risk factors for mental health. Exposure to extreme weather events, displacement, famine, malnutrition, anxiety and distress associated with climate change are all contributing to mental health issues.
The science is clear: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by phasing out fossil fuels and investing in sustainable transport, food and energy solutions will result in improved health, particularly through reduced air pollution, healthier diets and more physical activity.
The public health benefits of climate action far outweigh the costs. Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement could save about a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone. Estimates also indicate that the overall value of of health gains from climate action would be approximately twice the cost of global policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Here are two critical areas of climate action that bring immediate health benefits:
Phasing out fossil fuels
The production and burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – cause the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. At the same time, fossil fuels are a source of air pollutants that are harmful to human health. Air pollutants from coal-fired power plants and diesel-fuelled vehicles for instance can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, diabetes, neurological disorders, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
A World Bank study found that fine particulate matter from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal or diesel, is among the most toxic types of air pollution, with the potential to cause asthma, cancer, heart disease, and premature death. Shifting away from fossil fuels could prevent the 1.2 million deaths a year resulting from exposure to fossil fuel-derived ambient particulate matter.
The global cost of health damages associated with exposure to air pollution is estimated at US$ 8.1 trillion a year, equivalent to 6.1 per cent of global GDP, according to the World Bank.
Tackling air pollution – by phasing out fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy such as wind or solar – creates a “double opportunity” to both clear the air and reduce greenhouse‑gas emissions.
In the transport sector, this means shifting to electric vehicles powered by clean energy, and promoting more walking or biking instead of driving. Research has found that people who cycle daily had 84 per cent lower carbon emissions from all their daily travel than those who did not. At the same time, regular physical activity brings health benefits by preventing certain cancers, diabetes, depression, heart disease, and obesity-related risks.
In households, smoke from cooking with polluting fuels like wood, kerosene or coal is linked to more than 3 million premature deaths a year. It also contributes to outdoor air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and black carbon, a major component of fine particulate matter and one of the largest contributors to climate change. Over 2 billion people worldwide still lack access to clean cooking. Replacing harmful cooking fuels with clean cooking solutions, such as solar-powered stoves, benefits the climate and greatly reduces diseases linked to inhaling smoke.
Shifting to healthier diets
What we eat, and how that food is produced, affects our health but also the environment.
Food needs to be grown and processed, transported, distributed, prepared, consumed, and sometimes disposed of. Each of these steps creates greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat and contribute to climate change. About a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food.
The largest food-related emissions come from the production of land-intensive animal products, such as red meat, dairy products and farmed shrimp. Plant-based foods – such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, and lentils – generally use less energy, land, and water, and have lower greenhouse gas intensities than animal-based foods.
Plant-based foods also contribute to healthy diets. People whose diets are rich in vegetables and fruit have a significantly lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Shifting to more balanced, healthy diets can therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time improve people’s health – especially in groups with excess consumption of calories and animal food products, mainly prevalent in developed countries.
Meat and dairy can be important sources of protein and micronutrients, particularly in lower-income countries where diets lack diversity. But in most high-income countries, shifting to more plant-based foods promotes better health and significantly lowers your environmental impact compared to the average meat-based diet.
Learn more about the connection between food and climate change.
For more information on health and climate, explore the ClimaHealth portal.
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