Call to Redirect ‘Harmful’ Government Subsidies to Protect Health From Climate Impact
Climate and Health 21/11/2023 •
Pregnant women, newborns and young children are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

If government subsidies for fossil fuel were removed and redirected to addressing the impact of climate change on health, this would free up some $6 trillion or 75% of what is spent on health annually, said Agnes Soucat from the French Development Agency.

Soucat also called for scrutiny of agricultural subsidies “and how they contribute to our food system, and how this contributes to biodiversity loss and health impacts, such as impact on diabetes and cardiovascular diseases”.

Governments should eliminate the “harmful subsidy mechanism to reduce or suppress the adverse effect on the environment, animal and human health”, and substitute it with “smart environment and health taxation for one sustainable planetary health”, such as taxes on fossil fuel andcarbon, she proposed.

Soucat also pointed out there there are over 500 public investment banks worldwide with  $2.5 trillion of public investments. If only 10% was “mobilised” for investment in health, this would represent 10 times what is currently available in development aid.

Agnes Soucat from the French Development Agency (AFD).

Soucat was addressing Tuesday’s launch of a Call for Action for policies and action to protect pregnant women, babies and children from climate-related health risks, by United Nations (UN) agencies ahead of the global Conference of the Parties (COP28) negotiations on climate change in Dubai.

According to the Call, climate response policies should prioritise pregnant women, newborns and children, who are particularly vulnerable.

Babies more at risk from air pollution

UNICEF’s Abheet Solomon pointed out that babies “breathe more rapidly than adults while their lungs are still developing”, and this puts them at a greater risk of developing respiratory illnesses when exposed to air pollution.

“This is why, every day 1000 newborns die, simply because of air pollution-related risks,” said Solomon.

“Infants are less able than adults to regulate body temperatures and have a higher metabolic rate, meaning that they’re more susceptible to the effects of extreme heat,” he added. UNICEF estimates that one in three children are currently “highly exposed to heat waves”.

Children’s under-developed immune systems also put them at greater risk of infectious diseases, including malaria and dengue. Meanwhile, children are also vulnerable to natural disasters – one-third of deaths in the recent floods in Pakistan were children.

“When pregnant and lactating mothers are exposed to climate shocks and stresses, the negative effects not only affect their health, but also foetal development,” said Solomon.

UNFPA’s Wllibald Zeck stressed the importance of protecting vulnerable women and girls in the poorest countries who were heavily affected but contributed the least to climate change.UNFPA was also concerned about disruptions to sexual and reproductive health services.

“Climate change is affecting the health of all of us – infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases mental health, of course, heat waves, malnutrition, displacement – everything,” said Maria Neria, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director of environment.

“It took us at least 10 years to make sure that we have a health day at COP,” added Neria, in reference to 3 December being set aside at COP28 to discuss health and climate.

After this, “no country has an excuse for saying they didn’t know” about the effects of climate on health, said Neria. She  added that the WHO was also pushing for governments to ensure that their health systems are climate-resilient and to mobilise finances to respond to the climate “shock”.

“The causes of climate change and the causes of air pollution, which is killing seven million people every year, are overlapping and relate to the combustion of fossil fuels,” said Neria. “This dependence on fossil fuels needs to stop.” 

The Call to Action was released by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA alongside an advocacy brief by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).

The PMNCH advocacy brief reinforces the Call to Action by outlining specific recommendations for different stakeholders – including governments, global financing mechanisms, donors and foundations, private sector and civil society – for ensuring that the health needs of women, children and adolescents are better addressed in climate policies, financing, and programmes.

Image Credits: Michael Duff/ UNFPA.

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