Urgent action on climate must form part of Covid recovery, warns Lancet

Fresh pressure on Glasgow summit to deliver transformational emissions cuts, but Harry Cockburn wonders if it will be enough

‘Recovery from Covid-19 can be a green recovery, improving human health, or it can be a business-as-usual recovery that puts us all at risk’ (Getty)

Less than two weeks ahead of the UN’s Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, the Lancet medical journal has warned that “urgent action” is required to integrate climate crisis mitigation with Covid-19 recovery plans.

In a report titled Code Red For A Healthy Future, it warns that failure to do so will exacerbate the health hazards already faced by people due to the worsening climate crisis.

These include food and water insecurity, heatwaves and the spread of infectious diseases.

The report’s authors are calling for “urgent, globally coordinated action to mitigate climate change and build a healthier, sustainable future for all”.

The wide-ranging report warns that existing global Covid recovery plans are not compatible with the Paris agreement and “will therefore have long-term health implications”.

While the world’s biggest economies continue to subsidise fossil fuels and still account for the vast majority of carbon emissions, exposure to dangerous heatwaves is rising around the world, global warming is creating ideal conditions for infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, cholera and Zika to spread, and healthcare systems remain vulnerable to future climate-induced crises.

As a result, the Lancet said politicians attending the summit in Glasgow must “show leadership by moving beyond rhetoric and take action.

“Carbon emissions must be rapidly reduced to improve health and to provide a more equitable, sustainable future,” the organisation said.

“Climate change is here and we’re already seeing it damaging human health across the world,” said Professor Anthony Costello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown, which produced the report.

“As the Covid-19 crisis continues, every country is facing some aspect of the climate crisis too. The 2021 report shows that populations of 134 countries have experienced an increase in exposure to wildfires. Millions of farmers and construction workers could have lost income because on some days it’s just too hot for them to work. Drought is more widespread than ever before.”

He added: “We have a choice. The recovery from Covid-19 can be a green recovery that puts us on the path of improving human health and reducing inequities, or it can be a business-as-usual recovery that puts us all at risk.”

Maria Romanello, lead author of the Lancet Countdown report, said: “At best the trends in emissions, renewable energy and tackling pollution have improved only very slightly. This year we saw people suffering intense heatwaves, deadly floods and wildfires. These are grim warnings that for every day that we delay our response to climate change, the situation gets more critical.

“It’s time to realise that no one is safe from the effects of climate change. As we recover from Covid-19 we still have the time to take a different path and create a healthier future for us all.”

The Lancet’s report follows a special issue on the climate crisis by fellow health journal the BMJ, which warned of the mental health toll caused by worsening eco-anxiety due to the climate crisis. The BMJ also urged leaders to take action to tackle emissions.