Growing risk to human health
According to Sir Nicholas Stern, LSE Professor, “health could be one of the keys to increasing awareness of climate issues”. The specialist believes that the question is gaining political momentum in China, where respiratory diseases caused by poor air quality could cost the country up to 10% of its GDP by 2030.
The NGO Action Contre la Faim highlighted the increasing risk of famine, telling the Lima Climate Conference that a child dies every 30 seconds from malnutrition. In a report published on 6 December, the NGO highlighted the need to integrate “the right to health and adequate nutrition” into the climate change debate.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the total cost of the harm caused to public heath by climate change will rise to between 2 and 4 billion dollars per year by 2030. The organisation also believes that malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and stress caused by high temperatures could be responsible for a further 250,000 deaths worldwide between 2030 and 2050.
Environmental change and health interlinkages
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