Like all other years in the past, 2023, too, is history. As always, human beings created some good and much bad. No wonder we are said to be living in the anthropocene epoch – one used to describe the most recent period in our planet’s history, when the activity of human beings is having a significant impact on our climate and various ecosystems.
Wars, conflicts, geopolitics, and mindless growth of businesses are some of the ingredients of the bitter cup of tea for humanity. Simultaneously, its efforts for lasting peace, harmony, cooperation, and collective efforts add that much-needed sweetness. For the romantics, it is the beauty of contradictory human behaviour that creates love stories even during bloodshed and the agonies of war.
Realistically, however, we are facing one of the most significant challenges and existential crises in the form of climate change, a product of the anthropocene epoch. Our lust for so-called growth and development has jeopardised our own existence! And this decade will be crucial in defining and deciding the future of humankind on this planet.
The yearly Conference of Parties (COP), the top global decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was held in Dubai in 2023. It was the first time that a dedicated health day and a health declaration came into existence in the 28-year history of COPs. The health community looks at this as a positive change and a morale booster in the fight against climate change and global warming.
This is because climate change, biodiversity loss, and health are closely interlinked; the World Health Organisation has called climate change a direct contributor to health emergencies such as extreme weather events, change in disease patterns, and compounding multiple health stressors.
Apart from this, the primary culprit for pollution, fossil fuel, also gained momentum by being mentioned in the final drafts as ‘fossil fuel transition’ instead of ‘fossil fuel phaseout’, for which health activists were trying their best to create a ground. Another positive news for the health sector is the agreement to operationalise a new ‘Loss and Damage Fund.’ However, many gray areas make the health community skeptical about their future outcomes since multiple political, economic, and business interests will have its implications.
The three critical areas for the health declaration of the COP28 are resilient health systems, decreasing carbon footprints of the health sector (which currently contributes to 5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions), and healthcare financing. It is evident from data and multiple scientific observations that if countries integrate health into their climate policies, it will have various gains, since it will help the food and agriculture sector, water and sanitation, living conditions, etc.
In a way then, COP28 helped create momentum in bringing health to the negotiation table and finally got mentioned in the final draft. The global north and global south perceive health issues due to climate change differently, and this gap is significant. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that nobody is safe in present situations.
This optimism of COP28 in the form of positive outcomes related to human health can be a good point to launch in 2024. Steven Smith and colleagues at the University of Sussex put the concept of tipping points in climate change in the context of social and political behaviour in a positive direction. With reference to climate change, if something reaches a tipping point, it will not be possible to revive the system. Smith and his colleagues talked about already visible tipping points in socio-political behaviour in the areas of renewable energy, electric vehicles, social movements, plant-based diet, etc., and said that there was a ray of hope and optimistic thought processes.
It is the same with regards to wind and solar energy, where technological inventions are rapidly advancing. This will help in making renewable energy cheap and accessible. Similarly, lab-grown meat will soon be a reality for households. This meat will require far lesser land, water, and other resources such as drugs and antibiotics, than traditional cattle farming. These positive tipping points in human behaviour can be seen in social movements related to climate change.
Let’s hope that in 2024, humanity will work towards solutions for its problems, and human values will prevail in the form of Health, Happiness, and Wellbeing. Our planet Earth requires human attention.
(Dr. Mahesh Bhatt is a surgeon, writer, and public health consultant)
