Climate change and health

The impact of climate change is now a major health threat, making millions of people around the world more vulnerable. However, it is the poorest populations and the most marginalized communities that are being most affected by the increase in extreme weather events and their enormous consequences.

Exposure to extreme heat directly affects health by increasing the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, causing heat stroke, as well as pregnancy and mental health problems. But it goes much further: rising temperatures and extreme weather events also threaten crop yields and cause the spread of infectious diseases. Moreover, air pollution remains the leading environmental cause of premature death in the European Union.

To address this reality, it is urgent that governments and international organizations change the course of their policies to make them more ambitious and effective. This is precisely what we at Salud por Derecho are working on.

We are working to ensure that the Spanish government and European and international institutions implement policies for the adaptation and mitigation of the climate impact, placing health at the center of their efforts. To achieve this goal, well-financed policies are needed to ensure climate neutrality by 2050, meaning that emissions are equal to or less than those absorbed by the planet naturally.

To this end, we collaborate with other international organizations, such as the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), the Global Climate and Health Alliance, and the Clean Cities campaign.

Our objectives are as follows:

National, European, and international public policies to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Establishing a Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty to enable the decarbonization of the economy and increased investment in clean energy.

Ensuring the protection of the right to health of climate migrants, promoting the necessary procedures, and protecting the right to asylum.

Increasing funding for a loss and damage fund to address the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable countries and on the health of the population.

GLOBAL CLIMATE AND HEALTH ALLIANCE:

We are part of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, which comprises NGOs and health professional organizations, as well as various health and environmental alliances from around the world.

Its goal is to raise awareness of the threats posed by climate change to health and to ensure that health impacts are integrated into climate change responses through global, regional, national, and local policies.

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HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT ALLIANCE (HEAL):

We are also part of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), which examines how the environment affects human health in the European Union (EU) and beyond. HEAL works to develop laws and policies that promote health globally and protect those most impacted by pollution, while also raising awareness of the health benefits of environmental action.

HEAL’s membership comprises over 90 organizations, including health professionals, patients, environmental experts, and NGOs.

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CLEAN CITIES CAMPAIGN:

We are a part of Clean Cities, a European coalition of over 70 NGOs, environmental associations, grassroots movements, and civil society organizations with the goal of achieving zero-emission urban mobility by 2030. The campaign advocates for active, shared, and electric mobility for a more livable and sustainable urban future, including the gradual phasing out of internal combustion vehicles from cities.

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