CAN COP29 DELIVER ON HEALTH? It’s climate week in New York and, for the first time, health is one of the themes. And not before time — 2 billion people, or 25 percent of the world’s population, have experienced 30 days of heat that put their health at risk, the Global Climate and Health Alliance warned on Tuesday.
Developing countries are the most vulnerable but richer countries aren’t safe either. Major floods have already caused havoc across Europe this month. “The human impacts from climate change, caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, are major and growing,” said Jeni Miller, executive director of the alliance.
Is COP the answer? At COP28 in Dubai last year, governments finally called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, the direct cause of the climate crisis. Now, Miller said, governments need to go further and commit to no new fossil fuel infrastructure at COP29, which will be held in Azerbaijan in November.