Analyzed the data: JAS. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: JAS. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: JAS.
The author has declared that no competing interests exist.
Jerome Singh argues that health ethics principles must be afforded equal status to economics principles in climate change deliberations, and that the health community must play more of a leadership role.
The human health implications of climate change must be afforded greater prominence.
Governments, the private sector, financiers, and society have a moral responsibility to practice socially responsible investment and to mitigate against the impact of climate change, particularly in relation to human health.
Human health must be a core, not peripheral, focus in future climate change deliberations.
The health community, led by health ministers, must play a central role in climate change deliberations.
Health ethics principles must be afforded equal status to economics principles in climate change deliberations.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) concluded in December 2011, in Durban, South Africa, two days late, after two weeks of negotiations. What ultimately emerged was a further voluntary commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol international instrument that sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and expires in 2012—and more significantly, the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. This is an agreement that commits governments to developing a protocol, legal instrument, or an agreed outcome to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with legal force applicable to all countries by no later than 2015, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to be implemented from 2020
Some regard the outcome of the Durban meeting to be a failure because it will not result in action fast enough
Regardless of COP 17's perceived failure or success, unequivocally clear was that foreign ministers and environmental ministers set and drove the conference agenda, and that economic considerations underpinned all discussions. Despite climate change posing grave risks to human health (see
The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Meteorological Organization, and the United Nations Environmental Programme have noted, with concern, the implications of climate change on human health.
The United States Interagency Working Group on Climate Change and Health has identified at least eleven categories of climate change's impact on human health, including:
asthma and respiratory disease;
cancer;
cardiovascular disease and stroke;
foodborne diseases and nutrition;
human developmental effects;
mental health and stress-related disorders;
neurological diseases;
vectorborne and zoonotic diseases;
waterborne diseases;
weather-related morbidity and mortality.
The Wildlife Conservation Society has identified 12 pathogens—dubbed the “deadly dozen”—that could spread into new regions and affect human health as a result of climate change:
avian flu;
tuberculosis;
Ebola virus;
cholera;
babesiosis;
parasites;
Lyme disease;
plague;
Rift Valley fever;
sleeping sickness;
yellow fever;
red tides (algal blooms).
Key references:
While movement towards a legally binding international treaty on climate change is welcomed, and while many countries are moving towards domestic legal frameworks to govern greenhouse gas emissions in their settings, these governance instruments could be silent on issues such as the duty of care and custodianship towards resources and the environment that current generations owe future generations (intergenerational justice), or their adherence may not necessarily yield ethical outcomes. For example, COP 17's host, South Africa, is currently experiencing an energy security crisis, with the country's electricity grid network under strain
World Bank funding for coal-powered stations comes despite the World Bank recognizing the impact of development on the environment
The gap in ethics governance concerning climate change decision-making underscores the argument that policy-making on a variety of issues impacting climate change, including energy, transport, and development, needs to be underpinned by ethically sound principles, not just economic and legal considerations. Further, the human health implications of energy, transport, and development must be given equal weighting in policy deliberations as economic implications. While the field of climate justice has largely focused on distribution, development, and justice, particularly in relation to intergenerational justice and reparations for vulnerable states that stand to be affected by climate change
In December 2004, the Collaborative Program on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change was launched at the 10th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 10) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The major outcome of this meeting was the Buenos Aires Declaration on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change
Addressing the questions the Declaration poses will require more than just drawing on principles from the fields of environmental ethics, economic ethics, and climate justice. While the ethical dimensions of climate change have received recent attention
Authorities, financiers, the private sector, and society have a responsibility to protect and develop limited resources, and to ensure ecological integrity and human well-being. Initiatives should be implemented in a manner that most enhances human health, and the physical and social environment.
Authorities, financiers, the private sector, and society have a duty to act responsibly and prudently towards each other, and towards future generations in relation to resources and in respect of initiatives that could impact on climate change and human health.
Authorities, financiers, the private sector, and society have a moral obligation not to harm, facilitate harm, or be complicit in the harm of others in relation to initiatives that could have an impact on climate change and human health.
The implications of initiatives that have an impact on climate change and human health must be timeously identified, preferably prospectively.
The rationale that underpins initiatives which impact, or could impact, climate change and human health must appeal to relevant evidence, values, and principles.
Authorities, the private sector, the international community, and local communities should engage in collaborations to mitigate against the potential impact of climate change and adverse human health outcomes associated therewith.
If an existing or proposed project or policy that impacts, or could impact, climate change can be realised by feasible alternatives that are less adverse to human health, these alternatives ought to be pursued as a first resort.
Humans have a moral responsibility to ensure the common welfare of humankind, particularly the poor and marginalised, who are experiencing or could experience detrimental health outcomes related to climate change. This necessitates providing aid and support to these individuals.
The rationales and potential health implications of existing or proposed initiatives that have an impact on, or could have an impact on, climate change and human health must be publically disclosed and accessible to affected stakeholders through meaningful engagement processes.
Stakeholders who are being, or who stand to be, affected by initiatives that are impacting, or could impact, climate change and human health, must be given a fair opportunity to appeal against such initiatives, and to have their appeal upheld.
Key references:
Climate change represents this century's most dire environmental, food security, and public health challenge. If we are serious about negotiating a meaningful global treaty to govern climate change, the WHO, health ministers, and ethics considerations need to be at the centre of climate change policies and treaty negotiations, not at the periphery.
17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change
greenhouse gas
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
World Health Organization