Health

Will greening cities be enough to fend off ever increasing intense heatwaves?

Open waste burning is one of the major contributors of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and poses major health hazards owing to the cocktail of air pollutants it discharges, according to a report published this week.

The NHS – which makes up 4% of the UK’s total carbon footprint – is aiming to reach net zero by 2045. If it succeeds, it’s likely to become the world’s first healthcare system to do so.

Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial and educational institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world in time.

With a remit set out in law to be “the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales”, Sophie Howe is the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner. At COP26 she discusses how her interventions have secured fundamental changes to land use planning policy, major transport schemes and Government policy on housing – ensuring that decisions taken today are fit for the future.

Securing gender equality and women’s full representation in vital negotiations about humanity’s future—like those happening at COP26—rely on fulfilling girls’ basic human rights, argue Kristen P. Patterson, Director, and Carissa Patrone, Program Coordinator, Drawdown Lift, Project Drawdown.

In this video, Future Labs imagines future of universally accessible climate-smart healthcare, where we have lowered emissions from the healthcare sector and improved both quality and delivery of healthcare.

It’s time we stop focusing so much on the cascade of destruction that climate change may bring, and start talking about the cascading benefits, argues Chad Frischmann, Senior Director, Drawdown Solutions, Project Drawdown.

Rapid phase-out of emissions from coal power, which so far have been the single largest source of global temperature increase, is one of the first and most critical steps the world must take to deliver on the 1.5-degree goal.

Countries must commit to decisive action at COP26 to limit global warming to 1.5°C if they want to sustain a healthy and green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new report by the World Health Organization.

Billions of people are overweight, millions are hungry, one third of food is wasted and the way the world produces, processes and consumes food generates one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday at the first global summit on the future of food.

The pharmaceutical and medical technology sector is the latest to join a group of 15 major industries that have achieved a major breakthrough in climate action.

The US healthcare system is responsible for 8.5% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This year, despite the challenges of COVID19, one of the largest health systems pledged to become carbon negative by 2030.

“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.

“Please, reach into your dreams. Into a future that can be. And draw what you see.” – Peggy Liu, Chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

If you could write a letter that would be read by the world’s leaders, what would you say?

The heathcare sector has a responsibility to train, educate, advocate and influence decision and policy-makers, collaborate widely through its research work, and engage the youth in inclusive programmes, according to Dr Claire Bayntun, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy and the Greater London Authority; Catherine McGuinness, Chair of the Policy and Resources Institute at the City of London Corporation; and Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council discuss the monumental challenge and opportunity of a net zero London.

All forms of ecosystem degradation have one thing in common: When people hurt ecosystems, they also hurt economies, biodiversity and the climate.

“Our big opportunity to look beyond what has always been and build a world that we can all thrive in.” A poem by Kumi Naidoo.

We can transform fear into empowerment but we need tenacity, entrepreneurship, resources and appropriate tools – as well as a commitment from all  generations, argue marine ecologist Carlos M. Duarte and Russian model Ria Serebryakova.