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COP24: A million lives could be saved by 2050 through climate action
07.12.2018 13:32 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
As of now, the COP24, a two-week 24th Climate Change Conference continues within Katowice (Poland), UN Radio reports.
As a part of the Conference, the the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a special report titled Health and Climate Change.
As to the report, if some bold climate actions are taken now, a million lives and a lot of money could be saved by the middle of the century.
«The Paris Agreement is potentially the strongest health agreement of this century,» said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
«The evidence is clear that climate change is already having a serious impact on human lives and health. It threatens the basic elements we all need for good health clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter and will undermine decades of progress in global health.»
The report also shows that the economic benefits of improved health would be twice as high as the economic cost of mitigating global warming, and fighting air pollution. The return on investment is even higher within the countries key to tackling global emissions, such as China and India.
As to the report, the exposure to the air pollution causes 7 million deaths worldwide every year and costs an estimated US$ 5.11 milliard of the welfare losses globally. Thus, within the 15 countries that have the highest greenhouse gas emissions, the health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost over 4% of the global GDP. However, by contrast, actions to meet the Paris commitment of keeping warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, would cost around 1% of the global GDP.
So, the WHO report includes recommendations for the world leaders and decision-makers on how to tackle climate action and public health issues at the same time, including: policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and air pollution; the mobilisation of mayors to effect local change; investment in «climate-smart» health facilities; and the leveraging of the health community as powerful public advocates for climate action.
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