In the report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the COP31 process to be held in Antalya on 9-20 November, hosted by Türkiye, it was stated that the relationship between health and the climate crisis will stand out as an important topic at COP31.
The report noted that the climate crisis is a health crisis and its effects are felt unequally on regions and people. "Climate change is a serious threat to human health, no country or community is immune from this. The burden of climate change is disproportionately distributed among regions and communities. An estimated 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in conditions that are extremely vulnerable to climate change." reviews were included.
The report noted that more than 90 percent of deaths due to climate-related disasters in the last 20 years occurred in developing countries.
Pointing out that children, pregnant women, newborns, the elderly, individuals with health problems and displaced people are especially vulnerable to climate change, the report said, "The principle of equity is of fundamental importance in interventions in the field of health. Pre-COP (pre-COP meeting) and COP31 held in Fiji offer important opportunities to draw attention to this issue." expressions were used.
"Antalya is an opportunity to turn these visions into reality"
The report emphasizes that tools, plans and policies to support health actions in the context of climate change have been put forward at every summit held since COP26 held in Glasgow, and said: "Antalya is an opportunity to turn these visions into reality. The Belem Health Action Plan (BHAP) adopted at the COP30 Summit held in Belem, hosted by Brazil, should be implemented." evaluation was made.
In the report, it was stated that BHAP identified three priority areas for adaptation studies in the field of health, and that surveillance and monitoring, evidence-based policies, strategies and capacity development, and innovation, production and digital health are among these areas.
Additionally, the report states, "Antalya Health Resilience Initiative (AIR) is a country-led, voluntary and non-binding mechanism where national experiences on climate-health actions are shared. This initiative is designed to enable collaborative learning and create a bridge to COP32 and beyond." expressions were used.
The report stated that the initiative will be launched with a document that reveals Türkiye's achievements and sets a standard for countries' contributions, and will provide a trust-based and non-binding framework for sharing experiences, and that it will serve as a bridge to COP32 and beyond through the collective experience pool.
"6 proven measures for climate and health save 1.6 million lives every year"
On the other hand, WHO also published a report titled "Global benefits and costs of priority actions on climate change and health".
The report pointed out that 6 proven measures for climate and health could save 1.6 million lives every year and provide trillions of dollars of economic and financial gain.
These 6 actions include heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water services, basic sanitation services, hygiene and hand-washing facilities, cleaner home fuels and technologies for cooking and heating, as well as efficient pricing policies for fossil fuels, the report said.
These actions could help prevent 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is 31 percent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions when excluding land use, land use change and forestry, the report said.
The report points out that the dissemination of these 6 actions on a global scale could prevent 1.6 million deaths every year and added: "They can contribute to economic welfare worth 3.9 trillion dollars annually. In addition, they can provide additional financial benefits worth 5.4 trillion dollars annually." expressions were used.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, whose views are included in the report, said, "The climate crisis is also a health crisis. However, most of the damage caused by this crisis can be prevented with the tools we already have." made his assessment.
Noting that governments are preparing for the next climate negotiations, Ghebreyesus underlined that health protection should be at the center of climate actions.
