G20 Foundation Publications Australia 2014 | Page 38

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H E A LT H C A R E
H E A LT H C A R E
WHO Director-General
on health and climate
Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General
Opening remarks at the Conference
on Health and Climate
Geneva, Switzerland
27 August 2014
Excellencies, honourable
ministers, distinguished
participants, colleagues in
the United Nations system,
ladies and gentlemen,
It is good to see so many ministers here.
Let me warmly welcome you to this
conference on health and climate. Thank
you for giving us your expertise and your
time. You have an important job to do.
Debates about climate change are still
not giving sufficient attention to the
profound effects that climate variables
have on health.
In March, The World Health Organization
revised its estimates of the health effects
of air pollution upwards. In 2012, exposure
to air pollution killed around 7 million
people worldwide, making it the world’s
largest single environmental health risk.
In my view, the well-documented health
effects are what matters most. Climate and
weather affect the air people breathe, the
food they eat, and the water they drink.
Signals about what human activities
have done to the environment are
becoming increasingly shrill. Records
for extreme weather events are being
broken a record number of times.
Our planet is losing its capacity to sustain
human life in good health. Earlier this
year, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change issued its most disturbing
report to date, with a strong focus on the
consequences for health. That report also
underscored specific health interventions
that strengthen resilience to climate change
and contribute to sustainable development.
I am aware of
speculatio