Disappointed with the lack of action at the 25th United Nations climate change conference (COP25) last year in Madrid, Jonathan Patz, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI), and colleagues call for renewed dedication to reduce fossil fuel emissions to benefit health in a Viewpoint commentary released online today (February 28, 2020) by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The U.N. Secretary General said global leaders are not stepping up,” says Patz, who is also the John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment with appointments in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Population Health Sciences. “Because the benefits are so large, this viewpoint focuses specifically on the extent to which low-carbon policies across three sectors—energy, food and transportation—have been analyzed and show the potential to significantly reduce disease.”
Patz was joined in the commentary, “A Low-Carbon Future Could Improve Global Health And Achieve Economic Benefits,” by UW alumni Valerie Stull, GHI postdoctoral research associate, and Vijay Limaye, a science fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“There’s no excuse (not to act). Regardless of the politics around climate change, these are beneficial actions that would benefit health, generate savings and protect the environment.”—Valerie Stull
“The climate crisis is a human health emergency,” the trio write in the commentary. “Numerous climate-sensitive health risks are scientifically established, including mortality caused by heat waves, respiratory illness from smog, ozone, and allergenic pollen, mental and physical effects of wildfires, infectious diseases such as West Nile Virus, injuries from flooding, and malnutrition from reduced crop yields.”
The authors look especially to health professionals to recognize that climate change is a health emergency. They call on members of medical community, who are trusted messengers, to “stand up for climate action that will protect patients and enable the world to thrive.”
The trio make the case that climate solutions are available that will benefit health:
- Establishing carbon dioxide emissions standards and deploying renewable energy improve air quality, reduce illness and death, and deliver economic benefits.
- Transitioning to more plant-based diets and less food waste reduces agricultural emissions, promotes health and generates financial savings.
- Encouraging active transportation such as walking or bicycling reduces emissions and lowers the incidence of diseases including diabetes, coronary heart disease and cancer.
Patz has a long history with JAMA. His first major paper on climate change, “Global Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases,” appeared in 1996 and has been widely cited. Six years ago, another article, “Climate change: challenges and opportunities for global health,” looked at the risks of climate change to health and the health opportunities from climate action, primarily moving to a low-carbon economy.
The researchers were pushed to write today’s commentary because “it’s a dire situation,” Stull says. “There’s no excuse (not to act). Regardless of the politics around climate change, these are beneficial actions that would benefit health, generate savings and protect the environment.”
Patz says the time for waiting is over: “We don’t need to wait for new technologies or new rationales to act. Even for those who don’t understand climate science, the policy efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions offer immediate health gains.”
By Ann Grauvogl/ February 28, 2020