WHO calls for end to fossil fuels subsidies to protect health: COP29
Air pollution causes 7–8 million premature deaths annually, largely from chronic diseases, the WHO says in a COP29 special report.
(Baku, Azerbaijan) — A World Health Organisation (WHO) director urged countries at COP29 on Tuesday to end fossil fuel subsidies and efficiently price fossil fuels to protect people’s health from air pollution.
“The subsidies that governments give to fossil fuels could be moved over to support health and climate,” Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Environment, Climate Change and Health at the WHO, said in a joint press briefing with UNICEF and the Lancet at COP29.
Investment in clean, sustainable alternatives instead of fossil fuels would reduce pollution-related diseases and cut carbon emissions, the WHO said in research published on November 7th, five days before COP29 began.
In that research, aimed at COP29 decision-makers, the WHO called for an end to reliance on fossil fuels and advocated for people-centred adaptation and resilience.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis, which makes prioritising health and well-being in climate action not only a moral and legal imperative, but a strategic opportunity to unlock transformative health benefits for a more just and equitable future,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in a press statement.
Air pollution causes 7–8 million premature deaths annually, largely from chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and respiratory infections such as pneumonia, the WHO COP29 special report says. It also increases the risk of asthma, diabetes, neurological disorders, stillbirth and other pregnancy complications.
Children in particular are vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution, which can hinder lung and brain development and raise the risk of diseases later in life, it warns.
The WHO recommended that countries change fiscal policies to efficiently price fossil fuels, putting an end to subsidies and introducing a corrective tax for fossil fuels.
“Interventions that make the polluter pay for the environmental and associated health damages of consuming fossil fuels can improve health, save lives and address climate change,” it urged.
The WHO estimates that “1.2 million of the lives lost to air pollution from fossil fuel combustion per year could be saved if the world scales up fiscal policies to efficiently price fossil fuels,” it added.
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