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AMERICAN
MOCK
WORLD
HEALTH
ORGANIZATION
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE 2017
___________________________________________________
____________
_______________________
CLIMATE
THE GLOBAL
HEALTH
RESPONSE
CHANGE
THEME BRIEF INTRODUCTION This brief aims to provide concise layers of
background on the conference theme, “Climate
Change: the Global Health Response,” culminating in a
description of the sub-themes to be addressed at the
conference. It is our hope that this information not
only alerts conference participants to the threat that
climate change presents to human health worldwide,
but that it also provides a foundation upon which
participants can develop potential solutions to this
global health policy challenge.
Akram Salam
Theme Director
AMWHO 2017 International Conference
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THE SCIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE Climate is the average distribution of weather patterns in a given region [1].
Throughout history, climate has always been changing [2]. One of our best looks
into this phenomenon comes from the chemical makeup of glacial ice and air
bubbles trapped therein, which preserve an 800,000-year record of temperature
and air composition [3]. Based on these data, scientists not only have been able to
reconstruct the history of Earth’s climate over hundreds of thousands of years, but
also predict future climate change [4]. When the warming of the Earth over the
past century is compared to the historic, natural fluctuation of warming, a grave
concern becomes apparent: the Earth is warming far more rapidly than any time in
history [3]. Weather patterns dependent on Earth’s temperature such as extreme
events, sea level rise, ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ice sheet shrinking
are seeing a great increase in frequency and/or intensity [2]. The sudden change
in the climate toward these abnormal, long-term phenomena is referred to as
“climate change [1].”
Scientists have pinpointed the cause of climate change: dramatically increased
levels of carbon dioxide, man-made gases (such as chlorofluorocarbons), and other
gases emitted into the air since the Industrial Revolution [5][6]. The build-up of
these gases in the atmosphere prevents more of the sun’s radiation from being
reflected into outer space, causing the temperature to increase [7].This initial
warming further causes an increased air content of water vapor, already the
largest contributor to radiation-trapping, resulting in a positive feedback loop [8]
[9]. These gases are some of the major examples of greenhouse gases, the
increased levels of which contribute to and exacerbate the greenhouse effect of
the atmosphere [6]. Human-induced emission of greenhouse gases, therefore,
represents the direct cause of climate change.
References
[1] http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/whatis.htm
[2] https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
[3] https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page3.php
[4] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Paleoclimatology/paleoclimatology_intro.php
[5] http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/human-contribution-to-gwfaq.html#.WNUhujsrK00
[6] https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/greenhouse-gases.php
[7] https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/outreach/carbon_toolkit/basics.html
[8] https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/climatescience/climatesciencenarratives/its-water-vapor-not-the-co2.html
[9] https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/vapor_warming.html
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CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS
ON WORLD HEALTH Climate change represents a sudden, abnormal change in an integral part of
Earth’s complex of life-supporting processes. As such, the health of all life is
endangered, including that of humans. Climate change already impacts human
health both directly and indirectly, affecting all sectors of society [1].
Some of the most direct impacts of climate change result from the increased
frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events [2]. These events lead to heatrelated morbidity and mortality among vulnerable populations, mental health
disorders due to geographic population displacement and loss of property and
loved ones, as well as neurological diseases due to exposure to neurological
hazards such as biotoxins, metals, and pesticides.
As for indirect impacts, the most detectable examples are due to an increase in
warming, water temperature, and precipitation frequency and severity [1]. All of
these phenomena are hospitable to the spread of certain infectious diseases,
resulting in an alteration in geographic range and seasonality of vector-, water-,
and food-borne pathogenic microbes. There are also indirect impacts of climate
change that are more difficult to detect, and as such may take more time for
scientists to fully appreciate. Examples include food insecurity and malnutrition
resulting from failing agriculture and perturbed ecosystems, as well as increased
rates of cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular and other diseases due to increased
burden of the environment on the body via air-borne particulates, UV irradiation,
and toxin exposure [2].
Taken together, the aforementioned examples begin to illustrate the profound
and overwhelmingly negative implications of climate change on world health. At
present, the contribution of climate change to challenges in human health may be
measured as less than that of other risk factors such as war and access to
healthcare [1]. However, in contrast to many other risk factors, climate change and
its associated risks are increasing rather than decreasing over time, and pose dire
future consequences already starting to take form.
References
[1] World Health Organization. "Climate change and human health: risks and responses: summary." (2003).
[2] Change, On Climate. "A Human Health Perspective On Climate Change." (2010).
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INTERNATIONAL ACTION
Realizing the threats posed by climate change, the international community has
taken several key steps in recent years to address this global health concern. Two
of the most significant milestones include the 2008 World Health Assembly (WHA)
resolution on climate change and health, WHA61.19, and the Paris Agreement,
signed in 2016 within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC).
The global health agenda is set by the annual WHA, the forum through which the
World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states [1]. In May
2008, the WHA passed a resolution on climate change and health, WHA61.19 [2].
This resolution represents a political milestone in that it drew the international
health community to the climate change agenda and enjoyed overwhelming support
from the Assembly. In highlighting the threat posed by climate change to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and health equity, the resolution
calls on WHO member states to take several steps toward addressing the challenge
of climate change in world health. These steps include developing health measures
and integrating them into adaptation plans, strengthening the capacity of health
systems for monitoring and minimizing climate change effects, and promoting intersectoral collaboration with the health sector.
The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty negotiated in 1992 at the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro [3]. It was subsequently entered into force in 1994
with the objective to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at
a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
system.” A series of critical developments in the history of this convention
ultimately led to the passage of the landmark Paris Agreement in 2016.
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INTERNATIONAL ACTION,
CONTINUED.
The parties to the convention have met annually since 1995 in Conferences of the
Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto
Protocol was adopted by 193 countries and established for the first time an
agreement to cut emission [4]. Entered into force in 2005, the treaty only imposed
legally binding obligations on developed nations for the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions for the first commitment period: 2008-2012. In 2009, the Copenhagen
Agreement failed to establish legally binding obligations and to commit countries to
agree to a binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol [5]. The subsequent 2010 Cancún
Agreement successfully established that future global warming should be limited to
below 2.0 °C relative to the pre-industrial level, a limit regarded by scientists as the
limit of safety beyond which climate change is likely to become catastrophic and
irreversible [6][7]. In 2012, the Kyoto Protocol was amended to encompass a second
commitment period, 2013-2020, via the Doha Amendment [8]. After all these
iterative developments, a landmark agreement was struck in 2015 with the adoption
of the Paris Agreement, governing emission reductions from 2020 onward [9].
The Paris Agreement marks the first time that a majority of world governments
have agreed to legally binding limits to global temperature rises. Its passage in
2016 represents the fruit of the more than two decades of international negotiations
on combating climate change. 139 governments have ratified the accord, including
the US, China, India, and the EU [10]. Under the agreement, all governments that
have ratified the accord now carry an obligation to hold global warming to no more
than 2.0 °C above pre-industrial levels.
References
[1] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/governance/wha/en/
[2] World Health Assembly resolution 61/19, Climate Change and Health, WHA61.19 (24 May 2008), available from
http://www.who.int/globalchange/A61_R19_en.pdf?ua=1.
[3] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, New York, 9 May 1992, available from
http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/background_publications_htmlpdf/application/pdf/conveng.pdf.
[4] Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto, 11 December 1997, available from
https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf.
[5] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change draft decision -/CP.15, Copenhagen Accord,
FCCC/CP/2009/L.7 (18 December 2009), available from https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/cop15/eng/l07.pdf.
[6] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change draft decision -/CP.16, Cancún Accord, FCCC/CP/2010/L.5 (10
December 2010), available from http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/cop16/eng/l05.pdf
[7] https://www.carbonbrief.org/two-degrees-the-history-of-climate-changes-speed-limit
[8] Doha amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, Doha, 8 December 2012, available from
https://unfccc.int/files/kyoto_protocol/application/pdf/kp_doha_amendment_english.pdf
[9] Paris Agreement, Paris, 12 December 2015, available from
https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf
[10] http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php
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CONFERENCE SUB-THEMES
In the context of previous international action addressing climate change and
world health, the 2017 AMWHO International Conference will revolve around four
sub-themes. These sub-themes encompass four overarching policy objectives that
need to be achieved to successfully resolve the challenge that climate change poses
to human health worldwide.
Mitigating Causes of Climate Change
Policies must be outlined for mitigating the various causes of climate change in
order to improve health outcomes. These strategies must be amenable to high- and
low-income countries alike. The direct cause of climate change indeed is the pollution
of the air with greenhouse gases. While this issue takes center stage, peripheral
causes must also be addressed. For example, improvement of inter- and intragovernmental communication is key to making progress in partnerships aimed at
addressing climate change and world health.
Building Preventative Capacity for Climate Change Response
While addressing causes of climate change will help to mitigate the intensification
of its negative effects on human health in the long term, the world must also work to
relieve immediate effects and long-term residual effects. There is much evidence
suggesting that the Earth can indeed recover from climate change impacts. To make
this a reality, countries must systematically take a preventative stance against
climate change. Researchers have identified preventative health measures with high
benefit-cost ratio, advising governments to pursue them as initial steps. These
measures include scaling up water and sanitation services and addressing
vulnerabilities to natural disasters. Improvement of infrastructure is also key,
particularly in the arenas of sustainability, emergency response, and health workers.
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CONFERENCE SUB-THEMES,
CONTINUED.
Developing Surveillance and Study of Climate and Health
It is of critical importance that countries better monitor their changing weather
patterns, the health of their population, and the relationship between the two. This
way, progress in addressing the health effects of climate change can be tracked. An
enhanced surveillance capacity must be developed by all countries to meet this end.
Complementing this need is the need for improved climate change research,
particularly at the national and regional levels. Evidence-based research that
minimizes policy-relevant uncertainty not only contributes to the knowledge in the
field but also provides a basis for rationalizing climate and health observations.
Integrating Climate Change into Decision-making
All countries should target incorporating climate change-based policies into their
governing systems to better improve health outcomes. Establishing inter-sectoral
collaboration within and outside the government is key for allowing the health sector
to communicate concerns and advise public and private officials. This goal could be
helped by generation of public and professional awareness on the gravity of climate
effects on human health. Decision-making that takes into account climate and health
should always be informed by data and supported by the health sector.
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