WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly one-quarter of deaths globally. Similarly, a WHO assessment concluded that climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. The health impacts of climate and environmental change are and will continue to be disproportionately greater among vulnerable populations.
Renewed global commitment
Fortunately, there is renewed global commitment to tackle climate change and implement the Paris Agreement, adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2015.
Opportunities exist not only to tackle environmental health risk factors, including air safety, food security and water and sanitation, but also to transform the development of health care delivery systems by using low-carbon, more environmentally-friendly approaches. For example, access to health care can be made more reliable in resource-constrained settings through renewable energy sources that can supply power for lifesaving procedures that might not otherwise be possible. This could be game changing for people who rely on the between 200,000 and 400,000 hospitals and health clinics in developing countries that lack or have unreliable electricity supplies.
Source: World Health Organization
