“Companies are starting to realize that their own growth is linked to the health of our planet”

2024-01-17 08:30:09

Disasters caused by climate change have increased fivefold over the last fifty years. Prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa throws more than 32 millions of people in acute food insecurity. Seven million people die each year from air pollution and it is estimated that 1.2 billion people will be forced to leave their homes due to climate change by 2050.

The climate crisis also carries the seeds of a global health crisis of unprecedented scale. By including a specific day dedicated to health on the agenda, COP28 has for the first time ratified the link between health and climate change. This highlighting of health issues was accompanied by a commitment to invest one billion euros in it. It’s essential.

Until now, most financial commitments were intended to stop the warming process, that is to say to “prevent” a phenomenon that is already tangible for millions of people. Today, it is already too late to just prevent, we must cure. The question is how and where to act first.

Hybrid financing

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the fact that, around the world, 90% of health services, long underfunded, are not adapted to these unprecedented challengess. Here again, it is the most vulnerable populations and the least developed countries – therefore the least responsible for the climate crisis – who are the most affected. For these countries, the priority is less mitigation than adaptation.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “If we do not act, climate change will soon lead to the overwhelm of health systems around the world”

We need to change the paradigm. The economic return of each dollar spent in the health sector is currently estimated at between 2 and 4 dollars at least. The cost of inaction is not only very high, but there is no economic return. If we do nothing, air pollution will continue to killand it will soon be almost 50 billion dollars [environ 46 milliards d’euros] spent since 2010 just to offset its impact. Changing the paradigm also means reviewing our approach to financing adaptation systems.

Needs in this area in low- and middle-income countries could reach $340 billion per year by 2030. Official development assistance will not be enough. Hybrid financing must be put in place. We need to concentrate more resources on local initiatives. Local communities know their needs, but also the solutions to implement. They are able to contribute to effective, rapid and sustainable interventions: they must be at the heart of decision-making and prioritization.

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