Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity and protect health: Wealthy nations must do much more, much faster.

Abstract

The UN General Assembly in September 2021 will bring countries together at a critical time for marshaling collective action to tackle the global environmental crisis. They will meet again at the biodiversity summit in Kunming, China, and the climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow, UK. Ahead of these pivotal meetings, we the editors of health journals worldwide call for urgent action to keep average global temperature increases below 1.5°C, halt the destruction of nature, and protect health. Health is already being harmed by global temperature increases and the destruction of the natural world, a state of affairs health professionals have been bringing attention to for decades [1]. The science is unequivocal; a global increase of 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average and the continued loss of biodiversity risk catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse [2,3]. Despite the world’s necessary preoccupation with COVID-19, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to rapidly reduce emissions. Reflecting the severity of the moment, this editorial appears in health journals across the world. We are united in recognizing that only fundamental and equitable changes to societies will reverse our current trajectory. The risks to the health of increases above 1.5°C are now well established [2]. Indeed, no temperature rise is “safe.” In the past 20 years, heat-related mortality among people aged over 65 has increased by >50% [4]. Higher temperatures have brought increased dehydration and renal function loss, dermatological malignancies, tropical infections, adverse mental health outcomes, pregnancy complications, allergies, and cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality [5,6] Harms disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, including among children, older populations, ethnic minorities, poorer communities, and those with underlying health problems [2,4]. Global heating is also contributing to the decline in global yield potential for major crops, falling by 1.8-5.6% since 1981; this, together with the effects of extreme weather and soil depletion, is hampering efforts to reduce undernutrition [4]. Thriving ecosystems are essential to human health, and the widespread destruction of nature, including habitats and species, is eroding water and food security and increasing the chance of pandemics [3,7,8]. The consequences of the environmental crisis fall disproportionately on those countries and communities that have contributed least to the problem and are least able to mitigate the harms. Yet no country, no matter how wealthy, can shield itself from these impacts. Allowing the consequences to fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable will breed more conflict, food insecurity, forced displacement, and zoonotic disease with severe implications for all countries and 1East African Medical Journal 2Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 3Danish Medical Journal 4PLOS Medicine 5The BMJ 6British Dental Journal 7The Lancet 8UK Health Alliance on Climate Change 9Revista de Saúde Pública 10International Journal of Nursing Studies 11CMAJ 12Pharmaceutical Journal 13Dutch Journal of Medicine 14NEJM 15National Medical Journal of India 16UK Health Alliance on Climate Change 17Medical Journal of Australia 18International Nursing Review 19Pan American Journal of Public Health *Corresponding author: Laurie Laybourn-Langton, UK Health Alliance on Climate Change. E-mail: [email protected] DOI: https://doi.org/10.17305/bjbms.2021.6411 Submitted: 06 August 2021/Accepted: 06 August 2021/ Published online: 06 September 2021 Conflict of interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and FG serves on the executive committee for the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change and is a Trustee of the Eden Project. RS is the chair of Patients Know Best, has stock in UnitedHealth Group, has done consultancy work for Oxford Pharmagenesis, and is chair of the Lancet Commission of the Value of Death. None further declared. Funding: Respective authors were paid by their employers. Laurie Laybourn-Langton s time was funded by the Climate and Health Council. Call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health