Warm greetings and welcome to the launch of the WHO South-East Asia Region’s Health-Climate Advocacy Toolkit.
Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity.
In the South-East Asia Region and across the world, it is putting the health, well-being and sustainable development of billions of people at risk.
Climate change imperils decades of progress in reducing disease-related morbidity and mortality. It increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, threatening whole communities and countries.
Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year globally from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress – hazards that are already prevalent in our Region, and which disproportionately impact low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that to avert catastrophic health impacts and prevent millions of climate change-related deaths, the world must limit temperature rise to 1.5°C.
My message today, at this 26th session of the Conference of Parties, is concise but urgent: Inaction is not an option – not for health, not for well-being, not for a fairer, more sustainable future for all.
In the South-East Asia Region, health leaders continue to lead from the front, spearheading multi-sectoral advocacy while taking targeted action to mitigate the health impacts of climate change.
In compliance with the 2017 Malé Declaration on building health systems resilience to climate change, all countries of the Region have identified key health vulnerabilities and are greening the health sector and strengthening health information systems.
They continue to ensure that health is included in national adaptation and resilience plans, while at the same time integrating climate risks into climate-sensitive disease programmes.
To accelerate momentum, it is my pleasure to hereby launch WHO’s Regional Health-Climate Advocacy Toolkit.
The Toolkit aims to inspire policy makers, individuals and communities in the Region to act on health and climate, and to do so based on the best available evidence.
It provides a summary of key health-related climate issues faced by each of the Region’s countries, offering tools, fact sheets and infographics that can be downloaded and adapted for use in local campaigns.
I thank UK DFID for their support in developing the Toolkit, and I look forward to our continued collaboration with partners in the Region and across the world.
I urge everyone, everywhere to access and utilize the Toolkit, to confront the climate crisis, protect health for all, and ensure a fairer, healthier future for generations to come.
I wish you a successful COP26 and thank you for joining today’s launch.
Thank you.