The 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Dubai, was held in a year when the planet is facing unprecedented challenges. From it being the hottest year on record to wildfires that have devoured communities and floods that have wiped away cities, the evidence of the current crisis is crystal clear.
The climate crisis is a public health crisis. Severe temperatures, heat stress, excessive rainfall and floods, an increase in water- and vector-borne diseases, and more frequent extreme weather events are all evidence of this existential threat to our health security. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) declared “Climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century”. Marginalised communities are on the front lines of the worst impacts of the changing climate. According to a World Bank estimate, “Climate change could drag more than 100 million people back into extreme poverty by 2030”. Much of this reversal would be due to the “negative impacts on health”. The climate risk index shows that eight out of the 10 countries most impacted by extreme weather events are the low- and middle-income countries.
