Post by Admin on Nov 29, 2014 21:56:06 GMT -5
COY 10 – HEALTH WORKING GROUP
Climate change has been said to be the biggest global threat to health of the 21st century. The impacts of climate change on human health and social wellbeing are varied and occur through many different pathways: vector-borne diseases, disasters, extreme weathers events, malnutrition, water sanitation, and societal disruption. Every year, we lose millions of life due to climate change causes and consequences, and the number are only expected to increase if we don’t take actions today toward a low-carbon society. However, climate change is also our biggest opportunity to improve health and wellbeing of populations around the world and to ensure that our generation will live long and healthy lives in resilient and sustainable societies.
Health is not merely the absence of disease, but the result of several societal, economical and environmental factors. Health is multi-sectorial; hence every action to be taken to protect, promote and improve health and wellbeing shall be fully integrated to the international climate change agenda, and countries’ national adaptation plans.
As a group of young professional and health students, we advocate for a greater inclusion of health within the UNFCCC negotiations. We believe COP20 should puts us on track towards a fair and binding global agreement, which will deliver rapid and sustained emissions reductions to stay below 2oC and protect people’s health. We would like to ensure that the health opportunities created by ambitious climate policies benefit everyone with the health impacts and co-benefits of all national adaptation and mitigation plans being evaluated. Especially, we recommend the negotiations to accept the following amendments to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action:
1) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 10 (b).
Original text
10. (b) Mobilization of increasing levels of financial, technological and capacity- building support for developing country Parties, in particular those most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change…
Suggested amendment
…effects of climate change as defined by Article 1 of the UNFCCC.
2) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 30 (a).
Original text
30. (a) Undertake a technical examination of opportunities for actions with high mitigation potential in relevant thematic areas, including those with adaptation and sustainable development co-benefits
Suggested amendment
…including those with adaptation, sustainable development and health co-benefits
3) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 31 (d)
Original Motion
31. (d) Assesses mitigation benefits, co-benefits, including adaptation and sustainable development co-benefits, costs of and other barriers to the implementation of policy options;
Suggested amendment
…including adaptation, sustainable development, and health co-benefits, costs of and other barriers to the implementation of policy options;
4) Establishment by the secretariat of a technical expert meeting on the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation in 2015 under article 31.
Furthermore, we have drafted a list of suggestion for the integration of health to the other working groups, which can be found below. We would like those suggestions to be received as a proposed way to ensure health is not treated in a silo within the UNFCCC Negotiations, as it has been for the past years. A healthy society requires the cooperation of all sectors.
Mitigation
• International and national needs-assessment shall systematically include the health co-benefits, especially the ones related to the reduction of GHG and urban planning.
• The health sector shall contribute to the reduction of GHG by implementing measures to “green” the healthcare system with particular attention to energy, travel, waste, procurement, water, infrastructure adaptation and building so that resources are used efficiently and responsibly.
• The international community shall acknowledge that mitigation strategies that include health benefits assessment can offset a substantial fraction of the costs of mitigation.
Adaptation
• When developing their national and regional adaptation plans, we recommend countries to include the changing health landscape due to climate change causes and consequences.
• Countries shall ensure that urban planning, especially in developing countries, safeguards human health and wellbeing from climate change.
Resilience
• Public health shall be seen as an institution that can play an active part in strengthening human resilience and in reducing human vulnerability by promoting “healthy people, disaster-resilient societies”.
• We shall strive to make the health systems more resilient and capable of withstanding and responding to the human toll of natural disasters and the shifting burden of disease.
• Regarding food and water resilience see food and water sovereignty section.
Indigenous People
• Countries shall develop health adaptation strategies that are culturally appropriate for the Indigenous communities, including the Amazonians.
• Strategies developed by countries shall recognize and accommodate for indigenous communities as the group most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; including health aspects.
Human Rights
• Health and access to quality healthcare are universal human rights, and shall be named and recognized as such in all the UNFCCC Processes.
Foreign Sovereignty
• Technology transfer shall be used between and within regions to benefit policy development and to improve health, healthcare services and access to medicines.
Food & Water Sovereignty
• We acknowledge that food and water insecurity poses a threat to health and prevents children from reaching their full growth potential. It also poses a threat to maternal health, both before and during pregnancy, affecting unborn children.
• We acknowledge that food and water insecurity are major contributors to mass migration, which weakens the health and wellbeing of the displaced populations, and increases conflicts and societal violence.
Climate Financing
• We are deplored by the overall lack of funding for health adaptation plans, despite being recognized as a priority by numerous countries.
• We call on countries to support the case for investment in health by providing the resources and technical guidance to ensure full participation of the health sector.
Environmental Law
• Environmental law makers shall take in consideration the impacts of water and air quality, and of deforestation on human health when developing laws and regulations.
Youth Policy
• Maintaining a healthy youth is needed for maintaining a productive workforce that will contribute to society economy and development.
Public Policies
• Countries shall seek to develop and implement national policies that encourage a shift toward a low-carbon food production and consumption systems.
• Governments shall seek to develop and implement national policies that encourage active transport to reduce the country’s GHG emissions and improve human health.
• Policymakers shall work to improve access to culturally appropriate reproductive health services and family planning.
• Policies framework should fully integrate the economic, social and environment determinants of health in making public policies.
Education
• Educational institutes should adapt their programs to ensure the next generation of health professionals understand and are prepared for health impacts of climate change.
• Countries shall use health co-benefits as a central and powerful message to raise public awareness and support for action on climate change.
• Nations shall improve research to evaluate and monitor the health impacts of the causes and consequences of climate change.
INTEQ
• Unborn children and children aged 0-5 are among the most vulnerable to health impacts of climate change, mainly malaria, cholera, diarrhea diseases.
• We shall recognize that if no action taken now, the youth of today will most likely be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy due to our carbon intensive lifestyle.
Developed by Claudel P-Desrosiers (vpe@ifmsa.org), Mark Hayes, Maria Jose Cisneros, Suzy McKinney, Evelyn from Brazil, and Frederic from Peru.
Climate change has been said to be the biggest global threat to health of the 21st century. The impacts of climate change on human health and social wellbeing are varied and occur through many different pathways: vector-borne diseases, disasters, extreme weathers events, malnutrition, water sanitation, and societal disruption. Every year, we lose millions of life due to climate change causes and consequences, and the number are only expected to increase if we don’t take actions today toward a low-carbon society. However, climate change is also our biggest opportunity to improve health and wellbeing of populations around the world and to ensure that our generation will live long and healthy lives in resilient and sustainable societies.
Health is not merely the absence of disease, but the result of several societal, economical and environmental factors. Health is multi-sectorial; hence every action to be taken to protect, promote and improve health and wellbeing shall be fully integrated to the international climate change agenda, and countries’ national adaptation plans.
As a group of young professional and health students, we advocate for a greater inclusion of health within the UNFCCC negotiations. We believe COP20 should puts us on track towards a fair and binding global agreement, which will deliver rapid and sustained emissions reductions to stay below 2oC and protect people’s health. We would like to ensure that the health opportunities created by ambitious climate policies benefit everyone with the health impacts and co-benefits of all national adaptation and mitigation plans being evaluated. Especially, we recommend the negotiations to accept the following amendments to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action:
1) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 10 (b).
Original text
10. (b) Mobilization of increasing levels of financial, technological and capacity- building support for developing country Parties, in particular those most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change…
Suggested amendment
…effects of climate change as defined by Article 1 of the UNFCCC.
2) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 30 (a).
Original text
30. (a) Undertake a technical examination of opportunities for actions with high mitigation potential in relevant thematic areas, including those with adaptation and sustainable development co-benefits
Suggested amendment
…including those with adaptation, sustainable development and health co-benefits
3) Amendment to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action Article 31 (d)
Original Motion
31. (d) Assesses mitigation benefits, co-benefits, including adaptation and sustainable development co-benefits, costs of and other barriers to the implementation of policy options;
Suggested amendment
…including adaptation, sustainable development, and health co-benefits, costs of and other barriers to the implementation of policy options;
4) Establishment by the secretariat of a technical expert meeting on the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation in 2015 under article 31.
Furthermore, we have drafted a list of suggestion for the integration of health to the other working groups, which can be found below. We would like those suggestions to be received as a proposed way to ensure health is not treated in a silo within the UNFCCC Negotiations, as it has been for the past years. A healthy society requires the cooperation of all sectors.
Mitigation
• International and national needs-assessment shall systematically include the health co-benefits, especially the ones related to the reduction of GHG and urban planning.
• The health sector shall contribute to the reduction of GHG by implementing measures to “green” the healthcare system with particular attention to energy, travel, waste, procurement, water, infrastructure adaptation and building so that resources are used efficiently and responsibly.
• The international community shall acknowledge that mitigation strategies that include health benefits assessment can offset a substantial fraction of the costs of mitigation.
Adaptation
• When developing their national and regional adaptation plans, we recommend countries to include the changing health landscape due to climate change causes and consequences.
• Countries shall ensure that urban planning, especially in developing countries, safeguards human health and wellbeing from climate change.
Resilience
• Public health shall be seen as an institution that can play an active part in strengthening human resilience and in reducing human vulnerability by promoting “healthy people, disaster-resilient societies”.
• We shall strive to make the health systems more resilient and capable of withstanding and responding to the human toll of natural disasters and the shifting burden of disease.
• Regarding food and water resilience see food and water sovereignty section.
Indigenous People
• Countries shall develop health adaptation strategies that are culturally appropriate for the Indigenous communities, including the Amazonians.
• Strategies developed by countries shall recognize and accommodate for indigenous communities as the group most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; including health aspects.
Human Rights
• Health and access to quality healthcare are universal human rights, and shall be named and recognized as such in all the UNFCCC Processes.
Foreign Sovereignty
• Technology transfer shall be used between and within regions to benefit policy development and to improve health, healthcare services and access to medicines.
Food & Water Sovereignty
• We acknowledge that food and water insecurity poses a threat to health and prevents children from reaching their full growth potential. It also poses a threat to maternal health, both before and during pregnancy, affecting unborn children.
• We acknowledge that food and water insecurity are major contributors to mass migration, which weakens the health and wellbeing of the displaced populations, and increases conflicts and societal violence.
Climate Financing
• We are deplored by the overall lack of funding for health adaptation plans, despite being recognized as a priority by numerous countries.
• We call on countries to support the case for investment in health by providing the resources and technical guidance to ensure full participation of the health sector.
Environmental Law
• Environmental law makers shall take in consideration the impacts of water and air quality, and of deforestation on human health when developing laws and regulations.
Youth Policy
• Maintaining a healthy youth is needed for maintaining a productive workforce that will contribute to society economy and development.
Public Policies
• Countries shall seek to develop and implement national policies that encourage a shift toward a low-carbon food production and consumption systems.
• Governments shall seek to develop and implement national policies that encourage active transport to reduce the country’s GHG emissions and improve human health.
• Policymakers shall work to improve access to culturally appropriate reproductive health services and family planning.
• Policies framework should fully integrate the economic, social and environment determinants of health in making public policies.
Education
• Educational institutes should adapt their programs to ensure the next generation of health professionals understand and are prepared for health impacts of climate change.
• Countries shall use health co-benefits as a central and powerful message to raise public awareness and support for action on climate change.
• Nations shall improve research to evaluate and monitor the health impacts of the causes and consequences of climate change.
INTEQ
• Unborn children and children aged 0-5 are among the most vulnerable to health impacts of climate change, mainly malaria, cholera, diarrhea diseases.
• We shall recognize that if no action taken now, the youth of today will most likely be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy due to our carbon intensive lifestyle.
Developed by Claudel P-Desrosiers (vpe@ifmsa.org), Mark Hayes, Maria Jose Cisneros, Suzy McKinney, Evelyn from Brazil, and Frederic from Peru.