Programme / Thematic session II/a – How Can Policy Address Health Impacts of Climate Change? Science, Uncertainty and Risk

Climate change is having an increasingly negative impact on many aspects of human health. A 2022 IAP report (based on four regional studies) analysed these effects in detail[1].

Taking action on climate change can improve public health, but this requires systems-based studies and multi-sectoral collaboration to develop and implement policies. This session will review some case studies that use systems-based approaches to make policy recommendations[2], and addresses the challenges of conveying uncertainty and risk in the health and climate arenas.

More specific topics to be discussed may include:

• Systems-based case studies of health and climate change;
• Risk and behaviour in public health;
• Climate change mitigation and uncertainties;

Science/health advice: navigating the science-policy interface.

[1] https://www.interacademies.org/project/climate-change-and-health

[2] https://www.interacademies.org/publication/climate-change-adaptation-health-book-case-studies

Summary of the session by session rapporteur Dr Ágnes Máté, Research Fellow, Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences:

The original panel of speakers listed in the printed programme was extended to include Anthony Clayton, Professor of Caribbean Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies. The moderator asked each speaker to give a 10-minute-long speech on the case studies they had conducted from 2021 up to the present about the effects of climate change on human health.

Montira Pongsiri, representing “Save the Children”, remarked that nowadays we live in times when we are experiencing “the most rapid transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in the history of human kind”. Among other effects, the unprecedented heath changes, air pollution, drought and floods make the life of younger generations harder and their future less predictable. The organization “Save the Children” helps those generations through information and education on the environmental effects of climate change. In particular, it facilitates better representation of the younger generations in decision-making processes.

Claudia Canales Holzeis from the Kirkhouse Trust talked in her presentation about ongoing projects that are being carried out especially in the African continent, which aim to reduce the risks involved in farming activities. Specifically, Claudia Canales described a project on the cultivation of four different types of legumes which help ameliorate soil conditions due to their specific natural biochemical capacities.

Anthony Clayton spoke about four main areas of future challenges humankind will have been facing by the end of the century, and presented four key directions of change. After a steady population growth there will come a sharp decline in population in most parts of the world, with aging generations who by that time will be living in cc. 200 newly-built mega cities. According to Clayton, societies will have to increase efficiency in using and distributing water, electricity and goods; in order to cater for an aging population, more health-conscious education and biomedical solutions are needed. To make urban living sustainable, new solutions of construction, work and transport are to be invented, operating on low-carbon energy supplies.

Shouro Dasgupta, environmental economist from Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), speaking about the increasing exposure to high temperatures of workers around the globe, cautioned that “our future will be very bright but very bleak at the same time.” In order to reduce the already present effects of heat stress on labour supply and productivity in high exposure sectors such as agriculture, he proposed to increase employment in low-exposure sectors such as manufacturing.

After the presentations moderator Salim Abdool Karim asked each of the presenters to name what they consider to be the biggest obstacles they are facing in reaching out with a view to bringing about any change in the relevant policies, whether they be obstacles of a political or economic nature or connected to distrust in science. Montira Pongsiri, for her part, was of the view that in her area „not having the right people around the tables where decision-making happens” is a visible obstacle, and she stressed the necessity to increase inclusiveness in participation and representation. Claudia Canales called attention to the underfunding of research on soil-friendly seed systems in every country, and the political voicelessness of those farming communities which through their own everyday agricultural activities could help bring about positive changes in soil quality. Anthony Clayton, in a somewhat self-confessed hopeless tone, mentioned four crucial points he faces in his everyday work: politicians’ disregard for waterguarding areas when building new homes, corruption of developers, compensation expected for negative environmental effects like some kind of an extended aid programme from developed countries, and the life-long election of politicians who represent outdated attitudes towards climate change.

All of the panellists agreed, however, that 1) there is a general consensus on all levels of decision making around the globe that people accept the reality of climate change and 2) politicians expect solutions from scientists to the biggest problems. Shouro Dasgupta also called attention to the fact that the possibilities and limitations of implementing best practices are always to be monitored, and best practices in fighting climate change should be also adapted to local environmental and societal factors.