2023-10-24 19:00:15
In a flooded street in New Delhi on July 14, 2023. ARUN SANKAR / AFP
Losing your child, giving birth prematurely, not being able to choose to be pregnant or end a pregnancy: these are common situations for adolescent girls and women around the world, seemingly unrelated to the climate crisis. . However, the United Nations is calling for better consideration of these fundamental health issues by the signatory states of the Paris agreement.
A report from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London and the Canadian Research and Development Centre, published on October 10, looked at nationally determined contributions, that is to say the climate actions planned by each country in the framework of the Paris agreement. He is the first to address this issue.
A third of the states studied mention women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Out of 119 countries, 38 mention access to contraception and maternity-related health services. Only 15 made even one reference to violence against women. Yet, “girls and women face unique challenges in the context of the climate crisis associated with their reproductive role as potential mothers”we can read. “Climate change is also gendered. Women are disproportionately affected »explains Angela Baschieri, co-author of the report.
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“Research shows that climate change, particularly extreme heat waves and pollution, are exacerbating problems related to women’s reproductive health”, explains Kristie L. Ebi, an epidemiologist specializing in the impact of global warming on human health at the University of Washington and co-author of the 2018 report by the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Increase in “stillbirth”
Analysis published in 2020 in the British Medical Journal established that for every 1 degree Celsius increase in temperature, “stillbirth” – the death of a baby after twenty-eight weeks of pregnancy, but before or during delivery, according to the World Health Organization health – and premature births increased by about 5%. The same year, a study from Stanford University in the United States demonstrated a relationship between increased temperatures and the risk of complications during pregnancy: “Exposure to extreme heat increases the risk of maternal hospitalization during pregnancy for life-threatening conditions”it is indicated. Links between exposure to air pollution and the risks of hypertension in pregnant women, or the risk of Gestational Diabetes were also supported.
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