Earth Today | Research gap

WITH CLIMATE change and health a growing concern globally, one local development professional has recommended that Caribbean islands support localised research into the area.

“We are just beginning to understand the relationship between climate and health. I suspect many Caribbean countries have not recognised the need to pay attention to the possible implications and that changes will take place sooner rather than later,” said Dr David Smith, who heads the Sustainable Development Institute at The University of the West Indies.

“A lack of data (has) only recently been recognised as a problem (and) relatively low investment in research funding. Governments should support data gathering and research; link with the Pan-American Health Organisation, Lancet Commission, etc., and put some money into research on elucidating the problem and developing solutions,” he added.

Also important, Smith suggested, is the forging of Caribbean-wide alliances, “including Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as well as CARICOM” to attract and shore up climate investments in health projects.

Smith’s comments come in the wake of the 2021 report of the ‘Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future’, which champions a scale up of financial support and overall attention for such investments.

According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has some important lessons on the subject, including “the persistent health inequities and vulnerabilities of cities and urban sub-populations to health emergencies” and the need to take advantage of the opportunity to “ensure a healthy future for all”.

“The overshoot in emissions resulting from a carbon-intensive COVID-19 recovery would irreversibly prevent the world from meeting climate commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals and lock humanity into an increasingly extreme and unpredictable environment,” the report said.

“Data in this report expose the health impacts and health inequities of the current world at 1•2 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels and supports that, on the current trajectory, climate change will become the defining narrative of human health,” it added.

The report insists this does not have to be the case.

COVID-19 RECOVERY

“By directing the trillions of dollars that will be committed to COVID-19 recovery towards the World Health Organisation’s prescriptions for a healthy, green recovery, the world could meet the Paris Agreement goals, protect the natural systems that support well-being, and minimise inequities through reduced health effects and maximised co-benefits of a universal low-carbon transition,” it said.

“Promoting equitable climate change mitigation and universal access to clean energies could prevent millions of deaths annually from reduced exposure to air pollution, healthier diets, and more active lifestyles, and contribute to reducing health inequities globally,” it said further.

The Paris Agreement commitments countries to, among other things, “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change”.

The 1.5 target is especially important for Caribbean and other small island developing states that stand to lose the most from a world that is warmed beyond that level. Already the region has had to grapple with a series of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, that have cost billions of dollars in damage and seen lives and livelihoods lost.

The Lancet Countdown has also itself noted the value of research for effective planning.

“Research is needed to identify current and future vulnerabilities, project risks from climate change at scales relevant for decision-making in different climate and development scenarios, and identify and evaluate adaptation options to prepare for and protect health in a changing climate,” it said.

“Adaptation plans should be reviewed and updated to consider medium-term and long-term risks of climate change for health and to build resilience. Greater collaboration and coordination are necessary across public and private sectors and global institutions, along with increasing investments in adaptation,” the report added.

– pwr.gleaner@gmail.com