By 2050 millions of lives could be saved each year because air pollution won’t be at dangerous levels in our cities. That’s one element of the healthier future envisaged by Simon Stiell, who heads up the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), when he spoke in Baku in Azerbaijan, earlier this month.This healthier environment will be thanks to an industrial revolution powered by renewables and to nature restoration. But getting us there will require “torrents – not trickles” of climate finance, he – $2.4 trillion a year to be precise. And the multilateral development banks will need to step up this year and demonstrate their commitment to the cause.…
Jess Beagley, policy lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance, would like to see an onus on funders of big projects to have criteria stipulating that applications should include multiple sectors. “If it’s an intervention in the energy sector, they should show that there is energy expertise and health expertise, or for a nutrition intervention, then again, from agriculture and health to make sure that those different players or ministries are actually talking to each other and decisions are going to be made in a way that offers maximum benefit.”
There are also several tools for calculating returns on investment, such as the WHO’s CLIMAQ-H, which quantifies the health co-benefits of air quality improvements brought about by mitigation measures. “I’ve not seen a cross-cutting tool for sanitation and health co-benefits and cost savings, or resilient agriculture systems and cost savings from nutrition security,” says Beagley.