AI Insight
The disease burden and economic costs attributable to climate change are substantial and increasing. This commentary argues that scaling up climate-health actions globally is essential to prevent these health and economic losses. Climate-health actions include policies, programs, and interventions across health and related sectors designed to anticipate, prevent, prepare for, manage, or reduce health risks associated with climate change.
Why it matters
Implementing climate-health actions at scale can deliver significant economic and fiscal benefits while protecting public health from climate-related threats. These actions represent global common goods for health, support fundamental human rights including the right to health and a clean environment, and advance climate justice and health equity.
Understand the Science
The disease burden attributable to climate change and its costs are large and growing.1 Preventing these health and economic losses in line with climate–health goals2 requires scaling up climate–health actions globally.3 Climate–health actions are policies, programmes, or other interventions in health or health-determining sectors to anticipate, prevent, prepare for, manage, or reduce health risks from climate change.4 Many climate–health actions constitute global common goods for health, safeguard human rights (eg, to health and a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment), and advance climate justice and health equity.
Source: [Comment] Climate–health actions: global scale-up yields economic and fiscal benefits