Scaling up six climate and health interventions worldwide could prevent an estimated 1.56 million deaths a year, avoid 16.67 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually and bring trillions of dollars in economic benefits, according to a new World Health Organization report, Down To Earth reports.
The report, Global benefits and costs of prioritized actions on climate change and health, examined heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water, basic sanitation, hand hygiene, cleaner household energy and fiscal policies to price fossil fuels more efficiently.
"The climate crisis is a health crisis, but much of the harm it causes can be prevented with tools we already have," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who urged governments to put health at the centre of climate negotiations.
The WHO could calculate costs for five of the six. Together those five could return about $24 in benefits for every $1 invested, with estimates of $8 to $36 under different scenarios. Heat-health warning systems had the highest ratio, an estimated $835 for every $1, ranging from $364 to $1,272 depending on the assumptions.
The largest overall gains come from fossil fuel pricing, including the removal of inefficient subsidies. The report estimates annual economic welfare benefits of $3.04 trillion from these policies alone, with projections from $691 billion to $5.34 trillion, within total welfare benefits of about $3.92 trillion from the six measures. It also projects fiscal benefits of about $5.44 trillion a year, though estimates vary with the assumptions.
Low- and middle-income countries could see particularly large benefits, the report found, potentially helping to reduce health and economic inequalities.
Source: Down To Earth
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