The report emphasizes health as the argument for climate action across people, place and planet (refer to the image).
Impact of climate change on health
- Direct impact:
- Noncommunicable diseases (NCD): Climate change and air pollution causes 85% of NCD deaths.
- Heat stress: People faced 50 more days of health threatening heat in 2023, due to climate change.
- Maternal & reproductive health: Preterm birth, low birth weight, maternal death, decreased fertility etc.
- Indirect impact: Increased poverty and marginalization; threat to food & water security; rise in conflicts and migration etc.
- In 2023, 20.3 million people were internally displaced due to weather-related disasters.
Key Recommendations
- Apply a One Health approach to address the links between human, animal, and ecosystem health.
- Transition from extractive economic systems towards circular economy.
- Ensure New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance and Loss and Damage Fund arrangements are substantially funded.
- Integrate health into national climate action. E.g., Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Action Plans (NAPs) etc.,
Initiatives taken: National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare), The Network on Climate Change & Health (a program of the Department of Science & Technology), etc
