Experts urge WHO to declare climate crisis a global health emergency

By Nympha Ozougwu

A group of scientists and former political leaders is calling on the World Health Organisation to declare the climate crisis a global health emergency. They say rising heat, worsening air pollution and growing food insecurity are already causing deaths and overwhelming health systems.

The appeal comes as the World Health Assembly gets underway in Geneva.  The independent commission behind the call wants the WHO to classify climate change as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Katrin Jakobsdottir, the former prime minister of Iceland and chair of the commission, said the threat is already severe. “The climate crisis may not be a pandemic,” she said, “but it’s still a public health emergency that threatens humanity’s very health and survival.”

The commission says climate change is driving more deaths from extreme heat, respiratory illness, malnutrition and infectious disease. It warns that governments continue to underestimate the scale of the danger.

Sir Andrew Haines, the commission’s chief scientific adviser, said the world is facing multiple risks at once. Climate change, he said, is “a security threat, a health emergency and an economic time bomb, all rolled into one.”

The WHO already describes climate change as one of the greatest health threats of this century. But declaring it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern would be unprecedented. These declarations are normally used for sudden outbreaks that require fast international action.

Climate change does not follow that pattern. It has no single source, no vaccine and no clear endpoint. Its impacts build over time through deadly heat, collapsing food systems, flooding, displacement and polluted air. This has led to debate over whether the WHO should expand its emergency rules to cover slower moving global threats.

Supporters of the proposal say the health effects are already visible. “Climate change is not happening somewhere else, to someone else, in the future,” Jakobsdottir said. “It is shortening lives in European cities right now.”

The commission is also critical of the continued use of fossil fuels. It points to research from the International Monetary Fund showing that global fossil fuel subsidies still amount to trillions of dollars when indirect costs are included. In Europe, the commission estimates that pollution from fossil fuels contributes to about six hundred thousand premature deaths each year.

Current international health rules were designed for short term events and do not clearly cover climate change. But recent scientific assessments show rising risks from extreme heat, water shortages and the spread of climate sensitive diseases.

It is not yet clear whether the WHO will adopt the proposal. The debate shows how traditional emergency systems are struggling to match the scale of modern climate related health risks.

By Nympha Ozougwu for One Planet Agency | OPA