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 telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OCHA , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNHCR , UNOG , WHO , WMO
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the World Meteorological Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
UNEP Press conference: Minamata Convention on Mercury COP6
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WHO , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.
1
5
1
1
Press Conferences | UNCTAD
Press conference on the launch of the Sevilla Forum on Debt, on the margins of the sixteenth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16).
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gazans’ response to food distributions ‘overwhelming’ as humanitarians scale up under fragile ceasefire
In Gaza, the ceasefire is enabling UN humanitarians to reach more desperate people with life-saving food, but greater access is needed to contain the spread of famine.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNFPA , WFP , WHO , OCHA , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director, United Nations Information Service Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Populations Fund, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.