Climate change impacts on our health
Professor Erica Hinckson is an expert in Physical Activity and Urban Health at Auckland University of Technology’s School of Sport and Recreation, and is also Co-Director of the Global Observatory for Healthy and Sustainable Cities.
Three key facts:
- Fresh from COP29, AUT Professor Erica Hinckson says health and wellbeing go hand in hand with climate action and must be a top priority.
- Climate change is making us sick but solutions like sustainable urban design, clean energy, and improved public transit, walking and cycling infrastructure save lives and are financially beneficial.
- The richest billionaires emit more carbon in an hour than the average person does in an entire lifetime.
Climate change is making us sick, and urgent action is a matter of life and death. From the direct effects of extreme weather and air pollution to the indirect consequences of ecosystem disruption and social instability, climate change threatens physical and mental health, wellbeing, and life itself.
These impacts are not distant or abstract – they are felt now, through record-breaking temperatures in India, deadly floods in Kenya and Spain, megafires in the Amazon, and hurricanes in the United States. Those hardest hit are often the least responsible for emissions. Prioritising health and wellbeing in climate action is not only a moral and legal imperative but a strategic opportunity to unlock transformative health benefits, secure economic opportunity, and ensure a just and equitable future.
That's why health and wellbeing featured in the climate change agenda at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, along with the financial benefits of investing in climate action.
I was lucky enough to be one of those in attendance and, while the final finance goal of mobilising $300 billion per year by 2035 to developing countries was utterly disappointing, there was positive news in a renewed focus on health.
The launch of the COP29 Special Report on climate change and health, the WHO Guidance on health in NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), the COP29 Multisectoral Actions Pathways (MAP) declaration for Resilient and Healthy Cities,
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and the Baku Continuity Coalition for Climate and Health represent a pivotal moment in the global fight to address the climate and health crisis.
People’s health must be front and centre of climate change action to ensure the funding mechanisms protect wellbeing, reduce health inequities and maximise health gains.
Working together, we can amplify globally new ideas on how to integrate community-driven approaches to climate action, particularly through physical activity and urban health interventions.
Cities and towns play an important role in climate action because health doesn’t start in hospitals. Green spaces, access to better, frequent and sustainable public transport and resilient urban design can save lives, with clean air, opportunities to be active and access to nature greatly improving physical and mental health.
Initiatives such as sustainable urban design, resilient housing, and greater protections and restoration of nature and biodiversity, will help achieve the synergistic health benefits of clean air, water and food security.
These insights resonate with my work in urban cities, health, physical activity, sport, community science, and indigenous knowledge, all of which were well-represented at COP29. Universities like AUT can play a pivotal role in addressing climate issues, particularly by providing much-needed support to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the form of capacity building, collaboration and streamlined processes.
Prior to COP29, I spoke at the International Society of Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH) conference in Paris, sponsored by WHO, about the eight best physical activity investment strategies in the context of climate change. These include investing in active urban design and travel, sport and recreation for all, workplaces, health care, public messaging, education and communities. In our work with the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities, where we aim to provide comparable, evidence-based spatial and policy indicators for healthy and sustainable cities across the globe to track progress, we have a mission to reach 1,000 cities within the next five years. (https://www.healthysustainablecities.org/)
It is clear climate inaction will cost countries way much more than climate action. Investing in climate action is financially viable, and coupled with investment in improving physical activity, it’s a win-win for the planet’s health and our own.
Finally, there was one statistic from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at COP29 that has stuck with me - the richest billionaires emit more carbon in an hour than the average person does in an entire lifetime!