Climate change and Health
Call from NGOs members of the Committee on Environmental and Health crisis
of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe *
for solidarity and urgent action by States, economic actors and civil society
for the safeguard of the common house
in view of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
to be held in Glasgow (UK) from October 31 to November 12, 2021
Having regard to the 6th assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published on August 9, 2021, which confirms the extreme severity of climate change, highlights the dramatic consequences of it on most of the inhabited land and renews its warnings on
NGOs involved in the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
Aware of the effects of climatic variations on plant, animal and human health combined with new health risks such as the SARS-COV2 pandemic
Concerned about the specific health hazard deriving from a massive release of lethal gases, mercury, unknown viruses and bacteria, due to the melting of the arctic permafrost and its uncontrollable feedback effect on the climate
Mindful of the need for comprehensive management of environmental and health crises based on more in-depth research on ecosystem links between the environment, animals and humans, at local and planetary level, as advocated by the "One Health" concept,
Referring to texts and international conventions such as
Call on States and all negotiators and partners of COP26
of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe *
for solidarity and urgent action by States, economic actors and civil society
for the safeguard of the common house
in view of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
to be held in Glasgow (UK) from October 31 to November 12, 2021
Having regard to the 6th assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published on August 9, 2021, which confirms the extreme severity of climate change, highlights the dramatic consequences of it on most of the inhabited land and renews its warnings on
- the inevitable exceeding of the objectives of 1.5 ° C and 2 ° C, set by the Paris Agreement, in the course of the 21st century if a massive and rapid reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases is not immediately engaged
- the stagnation in the atmosphere, beyond a critical threshold, of more than 70% of greenhouse gases on a hundred-year scale, with the irreversible consequences that this would have on the life of the planet
NGOs involved in the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
Aware of the effects of climatic variations on plant, animal and human health combined with new health risks such as the SARS-COV2 pandemic
Concerned about the specific health hazard deriving from a massive release of lethal gases, mercury, unknown viruses and bacteria, due to the melting of the arctic permafrost and its uncontrollable feedback effect on the climate
Mindful of the need for comprehensive management of environmental and health crises based on more in-depth research on ecosystem links between the environment, animals and humans, at local and planetary level, as advocated by the "One Health" concept,
Referring to texts and international conventions such as
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948, the Stockholm Earth Summit (1972) establishing the UNEP, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological diversity (CBD) adopted in Rio in 1992
- the European Convention on Human Rights (1950), the European Social Charter (1961) and the European Pillar of Social Rights (2017), the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and the natural Habitats (1979) and the European landscape convention (2000).
- The Convention on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters (Aarhus Convention),
- The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
- The Green City Accord
- the Sustainable Development Goals and the WHO's 10 calls for climate action to assure sustained recovery from COVID-19
- the Paris Agreement
Call on States and all negotiators and partners of COP26
- to adopt and then implement the measures on which a very broad scientific and political consensus exists to limit global warming while protecting human health, making health a key element of any negotiation.
- to prioritize urgently the measures promoting the development of a healthy environment which must become a universal and imprescriptible human right, to be included in the positive law of each State Party, and in particular:
=> the adaptation of city planning to climate change and lock down restrictions, knowing that more than two-thirds of the world and European population will reside in urban areas in 2050
=> the preservation of biodiversity, natural and semi-natural spaces for the physical and psychological and economic well-being and resilience of inhabitants in the face of risk
=> the recognition of ecocide in national and international law
=> the adoption of Environment and health Action Plans – or their review, if they already exist – integrating true prevention and resilience in the face of risks of any kind aggravated or caused by climate change, at national, regional and local level, with the participation of public authorities, private actors and civil society
=> the creation of innovative administrative and operational structures such as ministries which combine agriculture, ecology and health on the one hand, industry, commerce and transport on the other hand
=> the establishment of defenders of the right to health for all generations, - to promote the teaching of environmental health in the face of climate change in the initial training as well as in further training of all health professionals and to encourage the creation and rapid reorganization of medical and medico-social services to respond to the urgency of climate pressure
- to promote energy systems and economic choices of industrial production, such as circular economy, and modes of transport that protect health
- to give a wider place, in their procedures and political decision-making mechanisms in matters of climate and safeguarding “the common house”, to civil society because its opinion counts and its responsible participation in the implementation of the recommended measures is essential if we want to avoid the environmental and human catastrophe that threatens us.
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