advocate for the equitable phase out of fossil fuels
The science is clear: Fossil fuel dependence is damaging our health. Read more about our work to raise awareness of the health impacts of fossil fuel dependence below.
Photo credit: Hal Gatewood/ Unsplash.
Our global dependence on fossil fuels is driving the climate crisis. The fossil fuel industry is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions which are dangerously heating the planet and exacerbating the climate crisis, and fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are responsible for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions globally.
As well as polluting our air, the process of extracting, processing and distributing fossil fuels harms people’s health at every stage of production. Mining coal and pumping gas, transporting oil via pipelines, barges and trains, processing fossil fuels in refineries and burning them for electricity and to fuel our vehicles all contaminate the air, soil, and water we depend on to survive.
Despite all of the evidence, fossil fuel industry profits and investments continue to grow, new coal mines continue to be built and around the world, governments continue to provide significant financial assistance (known as subsidies) such as tax breaks to reduce the cost of fossil fuels for consumers. The fossil fuel industry is making billions in profits, whilst the health sector is footing the bill of the climate crisis.
Everyone, everywhere deserves access to clean energy that does not harm their health. Our leaders know how to achieve this- by investing in clean, healthy energy sources and phasing out fossil fuel use- but lack the commitment to deliver it.
GCHA works to raise awareness of the health harms of the fossil fuel industry and of the need for a rapid and just transition towards cleaner energy sources. We advocate for leaders to commit to an urgent global phase out of fossil fuels and manage a just transition towards a clean energy future. See our ongoing and recent work to achieve this below.
The health harms of fossil fuels: Collating the evidence
In 2022 GCHA produced a report ‘Cradle to grave: The health harms of fossil fuel dependence and the case for a just phase-out’ which examines the impact of fossil fuel extraction, production and combustion on human health, the role subsidies play as supporting fiscal architecture for fossil fuel dependence, and solutions to achieve fossil fuel phase-out across sectors, before identifying key recommendations.
The health community calls for a phase-out of fossil fuels
In September 2022, the World Health Organization, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Healthcare Without Harm, with input from members of the WHO-Civil Society Working Group on Climate and Health, coordinated a letter on behalf of the health community (350+ health organisations across the globe) demanding that governments lay out a legally binding global plan (Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty) to phase out fossil fuel use.