Climate and health are intimately linked, so countries must set ambitious commitments to sustain a healthy and green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the intimate and delicate links between humans, animals and our environment,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The WHO released a special report on Climate Change and Health ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland known as COP26 from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.
The report spells out a prescription climate action for the global health community based on growing research establishing the many inseparable links between climate and health.
It explained that changes in weather and climate threaten food security, driving up food-, water- and vector-borne diseases such as malaria, while climate impacts also negatively affect mental health.
Air pollution, primarily the result of burning fossil fuels, which also drives climate change, causes 13 deaths a minute worldwide, according to the WHO.