Cracked earth on the dried up bank of the Rhine: Climate change is increasing health problems
Photo: Martin_Gerten / picture-alliance / dpa / dpaweb
The corona pandemic has undoubtedly brought much suffering to the global community.
But maybe it is also an opportunity to do a lot better in the future.
An international team of researchers is now calling on the world climate summit COP26 in Glasgow to combine economic reconstruction after the pandemic with the fight against climate change. "Climate change is here and we are already seeing its harmful effects on human health worldwide," said Anthony Costello, executive director of the Lancet's annual health countdown report.
The good news is that the efforts to revive the economy after the pandemic can be reconciled with the conversion to a climate-friendly economy. “We have a choice. The post-Covid-19 upswing may be a green upswing as we embark on the path to improved human health and reduced inequalities, ”Costello said. "Or it can be done according to the old scheme and put us all in danger."
As things stand, less than twenty percent of spending on recovery after the corona pandemic will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, criticizes first author Maria Romanello. "We are recovering from a health crisis in a way that puts our health at risk." To be able to reach 5 degrees by the end of the century.
The report published on Thursday reflects the consensus of scientists from almost 40 universities and institutions of the UN.
Accordingly, climate change increases the likelihood that various diseases will spread more widely.
Outbreaks of dengue or Zika fever are also becoming more likely in Europe.
According to the researchers, more bacteria are settling in northern Europe and the USA, which, among other things, can lead to wound infections.
In poorer countries, the fight against diseases such as cholera or malaria could be set back by decades.
In addition, more frequent droughts and forest fires threaten food security.
According to the report, it had already affected two billion people in 2019, a number that could rise dramatically.
Most countries are far from adequately preparing their health systems for future climate-related crises.
Only just under half of 91 countries surveyed stated that they had even made an assessment for this connection this year.
"The most expensive thing we can do now is: nothing."
German experts from the German Medical Association and the Berlin Charité, among others, also supported the demands.
The connection between climate change and health must also be incorporated into training and further education in health professions.
"If we continue as before, we will not be able to recapture the damage to health that we cause with any medicine, operation, or money in the world," said the doctor and moderator Eckart von Hirschhausen on the occasion of the publication.
He called on the coming federal government to seize a historic opportunity, even if it costs a lot of money.
"The most expensive thing we can do now is: nothing."
joe / dpa