As per reports of the World Health Organization, nearly 2,50,000 people each year may lose their lives due to climate change. The statistics show that at least one out of four deaths may be due to environmental causes that are preventable.
The UN General Assembly held in New York this week called for better research, training, and resilience measures to manage the twin priorities. The Sustainable Development Goals of the UN aim to combat climate change and improve public health. The UN agency opines that the rising temperature, air pollution, scarcity of safe food and water supply is threatening the lives of humans.
The agency also shed light on the impact of these factors on the exacerbation of infectious diseases- a glimpse of which was witnessed during the Covid pandemic. As per them, pregnant women are at an increased risk due to climate change, where Weather change can provoke heat-related issues as well as other diseases.
The use of fossil fuels was indicated to be a driving factor in Weather change. The special envoy for Weather change Vanessa Kerry shared at an event as part of Climate Change Week at NYC.
The annual UN climate change summit, designated the COP28, will start in two months in Dubai. It will have a dedicated day to health and ministerial discussion on similar themes.
The health threats and climate change are negatively affecting the key points of SDG such as cutting poverty and women’s rights. As per the World Bank, nearly 132 million people will be driven towards poverty in seven years. That’s an alarming rate where nearly all of these will be due to climate change. In addition, the agency also reported that another billion people will be displaced by 2050.
Maliha Khan, president and CEO of Women Deliver, shared her concern on the impact of climate change on women’s rights and livelihood. The president shared that the process of adapting to climate change falls on women, where they may be driven out of schools.
She recognized that this is a recurring issue when male members of the family have to migrate due to climate issues, while they take on more work.
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