A WHO-led global strategy to control greenhouse gas emissions: a call for action – Globalization and Health

Addressing the Health Risks of Climate Change: A Call for Action

Although WHO is clear about the enormous and growing health risks of climate change, greenhouse gases are not yet classified as hazardous substances, requiring control through a global strategy or framework [13]. Additionally, WHO has not classified climate change as a result of the promulgation of these hazards as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), despite the serious and preventable health risks it poses globally.

The Role of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

It is thus very encouraging that a recent article by Campbell-Lendrum and co-authors from WHO mention future actions to reduce carbon emissions as one of three ‘grand challenges’ in the health sector’s response to climate change [14]. The authors note that such actions may include classic public health measures such as:

1. Behaviour change communication around high-emission practices
2. Application of carbon emission estimates on product labels
3. Marketing restrictions and pricing mechanisms on high-emitting substances

Healthcare professionals serve as a trusted voice in this discourse, emphasizing the importance of their involvement in promoting sustainable practices.

Urgent Call for Climate Action

Calls from the director-general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for urgent climate action must be commended, declaring: “The climate crisis is a health crisis, fuelling outbreaks, contributing to higher rates of noncommunicable diseases, and threatening to overwhelm our health workforce and health infrastructure” [15].

Historical Precedents and Coordinated Response

Several historical precedents set the stage for WHO to declare excess greenhouse gases (principally carbon dioxide and methane) as health hazards, and to declare disease attributable to climate change a PHEIC. These actions would set the stage for a coordinated health sector approach to emission control. Firstly, the example of ozone-depleting substances being phased-out to protect the ozone layer under the auspices of the Montreal protocol marked an instance where chemicals causing indirect health harms through atmospheric changes were regulated [17]. Secondly, WHO’s declaration of COVID-19 as a PHEIC resulted in a globally coordinated response, mobilising vital government and private resources to protect global health [11]. Thirdly, the experience with control of breastmilk substitutes showed that even though a product may have high utility and health benefits, its propensity for harm necessitated restrictions [19].

Overcoming Challenges and Protecting Global Health Security

Importantly, the health sector, perhaps more than other sectors, has successfully overcome formidable, vested interests, such as privately funded lobby groups against the control of tobacco [20] and resistance from governments to control breastmilk substitutes [SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination.
   • Indicator: The article mentions the classification of greenhouse gases as hazardous substances and the need for control through a global strategy or framework.

2. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
   • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning.
   • Indicator: The article discusses the need for future actions to reduce carbon emissions as one of the ‘grand challenges’ in the health sector’s response to climate change.

3. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial resources.
   • Indicator: The article mentions the need for an unprecedented coordinated global response to address the climate crisis and counter the formidable fossil-fuel lobby.

Source: globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com

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