Vulnerability to extreme heat events has steadily increased since 1990 in every region, rising temperatures are making transmission of dangerous vector-borne diseases more viable, and crop yield potential is estimated to be declining in every region, threatening food security. These circumstances have brought outraged civilians into the streets and heads of state to the negotiating table at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, which took place from September 21-23. Notably, China aims to cut emissions, 25% of the next European Union budget is to be allocated to climate-related activities, Pakistan will plant more than 10 billion trees over the next five years, and the Russian Federation announced it will ratify the Paris Agreement, bringing the total number of signatory countries to a total of 187. The magnitude and sincerity of the international commitment to implement these changes will create rippling effects for today’s children—almost a billion of whom live in countries where the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain out of reach. Are the commitments from the UN Climate Action Summit enough to protect human health?
For days leading up the summit, dedicated protestors walked out of their homes, offices, farms, and factories to fill the streets of their capitals, towns, schools, and universities—a movement that brought together millions to call attention to the deteriorating state of the planet. This event is unique because globally, it has been led by youth; ubiquitously known as the face of the movement is Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist.
Children, college students, faculty and staff also united in a climate strike at Harvard University, joined by Gina McCarthy, Director of The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard C-CHANGE). Students shared ways in which populations of their native countries have been affected, and voiced concerns for populations around the world—especially those who are bearing the brunt of health impacts from climate change without being the main contributors. There were speeches, chants, songs, and powerful voices among the crowd that fueled the energy of the event, building into a crescendo before protestors left Harvard’s campus and headed to City Hall Plaza, where the larger Climate Strike in Boston was to begin.
The voices of the protestors—concerned for the well-being of their generation—reverberated around the world, but have they been heard? In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres in concluding the Summit, “We have a long way to go. We need more concrete plans, more ambition from more countries and more businesses. We need all financial institutions, public and private, to choose, once and for all, the green economy.”
To learn more about how climate relates to global health, dive into this resource pack, curated by the Incubator.