The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Climate crisis ‘a health crisis’ increasingly deadly for the most vulnerable: WMO, WHO
Amid more frequent extreme weather events and temperature records, human health – particularly in the most vulnerable communities - is increasingly threatened, according to a new multi-agency report coordinated by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“The impacts of climate change on health are wide-ranging, affecting the determinants of health from social behaviors to water safety to air quality and food security," said Dr. Joy Shumake-Guillemot from the joint WMO-WHO Office on Climate and Health at the report launch in Geneva on Thursday. She stressed that low and middle-income countries in particular are being "impacted heavily".
The report, which includes input from more than 30 collaborating partners, shows that scientific know-how and resources can make a real difference in people’s daily lives, but are not sufficiently accessible or utilised. The number of medium or large-scale disaster events is projected to reach 560 a year – or 1.5 each day – by 2030. In countries with limited early warning coverage, disaster mortality is eight times higher than in those with substantial to comprehensive coverage.
“The impacts of extreme heat are quite severe, with up to half a million people being impacted with excess mortality related to extreme heat around the world," said Dr. Shumake-Guillemot.
Between 2000 and 2019, estimated deaths due to heat were approximately 489,000 per year, with a particularly high burden in Asia (45 per cent) and Europe (36 per cent).
Climate change is also exacerbating risks of food insecurity. “In the Horn of Africa during the past three years, we had [a] very severe food insecurity situation, which was related to both the heat and drought,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “Quite often in these episodes when we have heatwaves, we have also fairly poor air quality. For example, in 2003, when we got the 75,000 casualties in in Europe, at the same time, the surface ozone concentrations were very, very high."
According to the report, heatwaves also aggravate air pollution, which is already responsible for an estimated seven million premature deaths every year.
“The real solution will be to stop the cause of the problem, which is the combustion of fossil fuels and this is for the health community, this is extremely important because the combustion of those fossil fuels [is] not only contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, but as well to air pollution,” said Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO). She added that “we are creating conditions for more non-communicable diseases, lung cancer, chronic respiratory infections because of the bad quality of the air we breathe."
According to Dr. Neira, there are not only “immediate consequences because of the disaster, but as well massive displacement. They will maybe be responsible for destruction of the land and agricultural production and therefore we will see malnutrition and massive mental health issues as well."
The transmission of many climatically sensitive infectious vector-, food-, and water-borne diseases is also on the rise. Dengue is the world’s fastest-spreading vector-borne disease, whilst the length of the malaria transmission season has increased in parts of the world.
“If you have all of these extreme weather events, you have global warming, you will have more difficulties to access water services and that will be responsible as well for a massive increase [in] waterborne diseases," Dr. Neira said. "We have seen an increase in cholera outbreaks around the world, by the way."
-ends-
STORY: Report State of Climate Services for Health: WMO - WHO”
TRT: 3:00”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 2 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press room with speakers at podium, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Joy Shumake-Guillemot, joint WMO-WHO Office on Climate and Health: “The impacts of climate change on health are wide ranging, affecting the determinants of health from social behaviors to water safety to air quality and food security. And we see that it is the most vulnerable countries that are impacted the most by climate change and particularly low- and middle-income countries are being impacted heavily by climate change."
- Cutaway: close up, journalist taking notes, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Joy Shumake-Guillemot, joint WMO-WHO Office on Climate and Health: “The impacts of extreme heat are quite severe, with up to half a million people being impacted with excess mortality related to extreme heat around the world."
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press room with journalists and speaker on the screen, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBTE (ENGLISH) - Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “In the Horn of Africa during the past three years, we had [a] very severe food insecurity situation, which was related to both the heat and drought. And then quite often in these episodes when we have heatwaves, we have also fairly poor air quality. For example, in 2003, when we got the 75,000 casualties in Europe, at the same time, the surface ozone concentrations were very, very high."
- Cutaway: Wide shot: press briefing room with journalists and speakers at the podium, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (WHO): “The real solution will be to stop the problem. So the cause of the problem, which is the combustion of fossil fuels and this is for the health community, this is extremely important because the combustion of those fossil fuels [is] not only contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, but as well to air pollution.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press room with journalists and speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (WHO): “We are creating conditions for more non-communicable diseases, lung cancer, chronic respiratory infections because of the bad quality of the air we breathe."
- Cutaway: medium shot press room with journalists and speaker at podium
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (WHO): “Immediate consequences because of the disaster, but as well, because they there will be massive displacement. They will maybe be responsible for destruction of the land and that with agricultural production and therefore we will see malnutrition and massive mental health issues as well that we are seeing. »
- Cutaway: medium shot, speakers at podium
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (WHO): “If you have all of these extreme weather events, you have a global warming, you will have more difficult to access water services and that will be responsible as well for a massive increase [in] waterborne diseases. We have seen an increase in cholera outbreaks around the world, by the way."
- Cutaway: wide shot, speakers at podium, UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: Wide shot, speakers at podium with journalists in press room and speaker on screen, UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: wide shot press room with journalists and screens with speaker, UN Geneva.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNHCR , WHO , UNICEF , UNRWA , OHCHR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, representatives and spokespersons of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the International Labour Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM
Amy Pope, IOM Director General, briefs the Geneva press corps on her recent mission to Syria.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | FAO , UNHCR , WHO , WOAH
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism Investigating Serious Crimes in Syria, representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Meteorological Organization.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IIIM
Robert Petit, Head of IIIM: opportunities and challenges for justice in Syria in the wake of current events.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OSE , UNHCR , ICRC , UNRWA , HRC , ILO , WHO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, the Human Rights Council, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.