Climate and Health Summary
For everyone, for all specialties, everywhere
Why Is Climate Change a Health Crisis?
Climate change has been labelled as the greatest threat to health humanity has ever faced. The reasons for this are complex with countless ways in which human health is affected:
- Extreme Weather Events – As global temperatures get warmer, heatwaves, storms, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense. These can all have catastrophic health implications as well as driving food insecurity and pushing more people into poverty. In 2022, over 3,000 people died in the UK because of the heatwave, with thousands more admitted to hospital for treatment.
- Pandemics and antimicrobial resistance – Both have been linked to a loss of biodiversity, changing weather patterns and intensive agriculture.
- Pollution – Air and water pollution are both causing widespread illness in the UK. Additionally, microplastics have been found in almost every human organ because of the extent of plastic pollution, and the health implications of this are still unknown
- Refugees – As more of the planet becomes uninhabitable, millions, if not billions, of people will become displaced across the world. In the UK, many coastal cities may be lost to the sea, leading to widespread internal displacement and the associated health inequalities and implications of this.
How is Healthcare Affecting Climate Change?
If the global healthcare sector was a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter on the planet. This impact can be divided up into several key areas to target:
- Procurement (inc. waste disposal). The healthcare sector is a huge purchaser of equipment, food and single-use items, amongst countless other products. Most of this requires fossil fuels or deforestation to produce, but there are many alternatives with lower environmental impacts. Switching to such products will encourage suppliers to explore more sustainable products.
- Transport – Staff, patient and procurement transport is often with fossil fuel-burning vehicles. Many journeys may not be necessary, with alternatives such as telephone consultations available.
- Energy – There are huge wastages of heating, water and electricity in the health sector. Many healthcare workers will have worked on wards with the windows open in winter because it is too hot, found dripping taps that are never fixed, and seen computers and lights left on overnight and over weekends in departments that are unoccupied at these times.
World Health Organisation Climate Change Communication Toolkit
Find ways to talk to your patients and colleagues to take action on climate change
Why Should The UK Act When Other Countries Like China and USA have Much Higher Emissions?
Greenhouse gas emissions are cumulative. The UK kickstarted the industrial revolution which began the climate crisis. For the first 50 years of the industrial revolution, the UK was then responsible for around 100% of global excess greenhouse gas emissions - those gases are still in our atmosphere today!
Currently, the UK's cumulative emissions means it is comfortably in the top 10 countries with the highest environmental impact. As we began the climate crisis, and have continued to benefit from it over the last 150 years, one could argue we have a moral duty to lead the process of decarbonisation and the restoration of nature.
Can The Health Sector Make a Difference?
In the UK, there are 1.4 million health workers, with over 600 million patient interactions every year. If healthcare workers and patients mobilised together to fight against the climate crisis, and brought along all of our friends and family, we could change the world for the better and save the planet!
Check out the Highest Impact Actions page for a quick overview on individual actions you can take, and find your specialty or profession page for action you can deliver at work!