“…human health can – indeed should – be viewed as the real ‘bottom line’ of climate change consequences.”
~ Tony McMichael (1942 – 2014)
The World Health Organisation
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified significant health and human rights impacts due to climate change. There is a cascade of emerging problems that will exacerbate and magnify social determinants of health in addition to contributing to increased stressors on primary conditions of health.
- Climate Change and Health, WHO web page, provides more details
- WHO Atlas of health and climate change
The Lancet
In 2009, the world-leading authority on health research, The Lancet, set-up a Commission on Climate Change. The Commission stated that “climate change is the biggest global threat of the 21st century”.
Since then, significant strides have been made on researching the link between climate and health however, more research and attribution are desperately needed. In 2015 The Lancet Commission on Climate Change stated that “tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century”. Adaptation and mitigation strategies that elicit co-benefits for human health and the environment are now the frontier of climate change and health research and innovation.
- Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission Managing the health effects of climate change (2009)
- Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health (2015)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international body that produces Assessment Reports (AR) concerning the science related to climate change. Currently developing AR6 due out in 2022, the IPCC provides a wealth of information on climate change impacts on various sectors such as health, human security, urban and rural areas amongst others.