Climate-L.org » WHO

UNECE Publishes THE PEP Brochure and June Workshop Report

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:53:40 +0000

July 2010: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has issued a six-page brochure under the Pan-European Programme on Transport, Health and Environment (THE PEP), and posted the report of a workshop on sustainable and healthy urban transport policies held on 7-8 June 2010, in Skopje, Macedonia.

The brochure lays out the four goals adopted by ministers at the third high-level meeting on Transport, Health and Environment held in January 2009, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and to be achieved by 2014. It also describes the links among urban problems stemming from unsustainable transport, including: air pollution; noise emissions; climate change and energy use. The brochure sets out THE PEP approach of tackling issues of sustainable urban transport through communication and collaboration among the three sectors of transport, health and environment. It is available in English, French and Russian.

UNECE has also published on THE PEP website the report of the June 2010 workshop on sustainable and healthy urban transport policies, which recommended, inter alia, that international, national, regional and local actors work collaboratively to: establish a supportive national policy framework fully integrating air quality, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, noise and other health and environment targets into transport and land-use policy; and adopt technical standards for vehicles and fuels, and rigorously monitor their implementation in public and private vehicle fleets. THE PEP is serviced by the joint secretariat of the UNECE and the World Health Organization ( WHO)/Europe. [The Brochure] [THE PEP Website] [Workshop Report]

WHO Publishes Paper on Health Considerations in NAPAs

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:29:35 +0000

10 June 2010: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a paper titled “Overview of health considerations within National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) for climate change in least developed countries (LDCs) and small island States,” which aims to ensure that health is a central component in the preparation of NAPAs.

The paper reviews health considerations within NAPAs, focusing on three main aspects: identified health impacts; adaptation needs and proposed adaptation actions; and the implementation framework. It concludes that, with few exceptions, the current consideration of public health interventions in NAPAs is unlikely to support resilience processes and protect public health from the negative effects of climate change.

The paper formulates recommendations addressed to: LDCs and small island States on the need to undertake a complementary assessment of climate change vulnerability focusing on health; WHO on the preparation of guidelines for health vulnerability assessments and for the development of health components of NAPA project profiles; and the UNFCCC Secretariat and its subsidiary bodies on the facilitation of a process of review of the current NAPAs accommodating health issues to support country resilience processes. [The Paper]

Workshop on Transport in Europe Discusses Sustainable Urban Transport Policies

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:09:32 +0000

17 June 2010: The Workshop on Sustainable and Healthy Urban Transport Policies in South-East Europe, titled “Working together to make things happen,” convened from 7-8 June 2010, in Skopje, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, within the framework of the PEP – the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme.
The PEP was established in 2002 and is serviced by the joint secretariat of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the World Health Organization (WHO)/Europe. The workshop aimed to encourage transport, health and environment policy makers to develop strategies and measures to support implementation of sustainable and healthy urban transport policies in South-East Europe, and focused on policy integration among the environment, health and transport sector.
Participants identified challenges and needs to promote innovative policies in cities of the region in support of environmentally-friendly and healthy transport policies, and urban mobility. The event concluded with the adoption of Action Points for policymakers, including recommendations for, inter alia: development of a legal and regulatory framework that provides guidelines for government action aimed at developing sustainable urban transport on all levels; full integration of air quality, greenhouse gas (GHG), noise and other environment and health targets into transport and land-use policy; adoption of technical standards for vehicles and fuels and rigorous monitoring of their implementation in public and private vehicle fleets; and awareness raising campaigns. [The Action Points and Presentations] [The PEP Website] [UNECE Press Release]

WHO Releases ‘Vision 2030’ on Water Supply, Sanitation and Climate Change

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:18:32 +0000

May 2010: The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a CD-ROM titled “Vision 2030: The resilience of water supply and sanitation in the face of climate change,” which aims to increase understanding of how anticipated climate change may affect drinking water and sanitation systems. It also outlines possible actions to optimize resilience of infrastructure and services.
Produced together with the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Vision 2030 highlights key conclusions such as: the existence of significant overall benefits to health and development in adapting to climate change; the need for major changes in policy and planning to ensure optimal utilization of ongoing and future investments; the need to integrate resilience into drinking water and sanitation management to cope with present climate variability; and the urgent need for targeted research to fill gaps in technology and basic information, to develop simple tools, and to provide regional information on climate change.
The CD-ROM includes: a full technical report, as well as detailed reports on climate change and technology projections, and a review of resilience and adaptive capacity, including a series of technology-by-technology fact sheets. [CD-ROM Website and Report Summaries] [Summary of the Full Report]

WHO Publishes Interview on Climate Change and Health

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:46:21 +0000

June 2010: The latest issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) features an interview with oceanographer and geologist Colin Summerhayes, titled “Climate change: a creeping catastrophe,” which explores the expected consequences of climate change on human health.
In the interview, Summerhayes explains the difference between weather and climate forecasts, and discusses climate change impacts on water supplies, mortality and disease rates, and oceans and fishermen’s livelihoods. He recommends “planning for prevention,” encouraging improved development, good sanitation and supplies of clean water, and moving to low-carbon economies. He also notes with concern a disconnection between meteorological and health care agencies.
Summerhayes is the president of the Society for Underwater Technology and an emeritus associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, UK. [The Interview]

First World Congress on Cities and Adaptation Adopts Bonn Declaration

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:30:21 +0000

30 May 2010: The first World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change, which addressed the theme “Resilient Cities 2010,” convened from 28-30 May 2010, in Bonn, Germany. The Congress was organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainable Development, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change and the City of Bonn, and it sought to support the implementation of the UNFCCC Nairobi Work Programme on Adaptation by providing a forum for exchange, learning, networking, debating and policy making on approaches and solutions for climate change adaptation and resilience-building in cities and municipalities, including local adaptation practices.
During the Congress, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) co-organized a session on “Ensuring food security through adaptation.” Approximately 40 participants discussed adaptation approaches for achieving food security, including: diversifying and adapting local and traditional food; securing watershed management; and adapting supply-demand linkages for adequate food supply and processing. Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive Secretary, stressed the importance of agricultural productivity in the drylands, where one third of the world population lives.
During the final plenary panel, Margareta Wahlström, UN Assistant Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, highlighted that the UN does not have an adequate framework for interacting with local governments and noted the need for increasing the space for local governments in the national arena and in global agenda-setting. Underscoring that the poor suffer the most from the impacts of climate change, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer called for support from national governments to help cities address these impacts they have to deal with directly.
The Congress concluded with the Mayors Adaptation Forum signing the Bonn Declaration of Mayors, a roadmap for the World Mayors Council on Climate Change’s trajectory toward the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the UNFCCC in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of 2010, and beyond. In the Declaration, mayors recognize the failure of the UNFCCC COP 15 to deliver a strong and comprehensive post-2012 climate agreement and declare ten action points, including to: prioritize local level adaptation strategies that support local sustainable development; protect the urban poor from the effects of climate change; press for greater local government involvement in international climate negotiations; dedicate more funds to cities’ climate adaptation and technical resources; empower local leadership to ensure climate action; and build partnerships with multilateral institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society.
Also during the Congress, the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) unveiled its “Making Cities Resilient Campaign,” a two-year scheme that seeks to bring more than 1000 local government leaders around the world to sign up for and meet ten recommendations to make their cities more resilient to the impacts of climate change, such as: investing in urban planning; developing infrastructure and building safety; reinforcing drainage systems to reduce flooding; and installing early warning systems. UN/ISDR is coordinating the initiative, in collaboration with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). [UN/ISDR Making Cities Resilient Campaign] [Congress Website] [Nairobi Work Programme on Adaptation] [UNCCD Press Release] [Food Security Session Website]

UNFCCC Releases IGO Submissions

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:49:22 +0000

14 May 2010: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the submissions from international governmental organizations (IGOs) containing views that the Chair may draw upon in the preparation of draft text for consideration by parties at the tenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) to be held from 1-11 June 2010, in Bonn, Germany.
Submissions were received from: the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on a work programme for agriculture; the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the outcome of the 60th session of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, regarding further progress made on technical, operational and market-based measures; and the World Health Organization (WHO) on the impacts of climate change on health.
A submission from the Global Water Partnership (GWP) has also been released onthe Review of the Adaptation Fund. [FAO Submission] [IMO Submission] [WHO Submission] [GWP Submission]

Event: 63rd World Health Assembly

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:50:15 +0000

The 63rd session of the World Health Assembly will discuss a number of public health issues, including monitoring of the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals, and health and climate change.

dates: 17-21 May 2010
location: Geneva (Geneve), Switzerland
www: http://www.who.int/entity/mediacentre/events/2010/wha63/en/index.html

UN Releases Fourth Edition of Facts for Life

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:09:24 +0000

April 2010: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank, has published the fourth edition of “Facts for Life.”
A section on emergencies, preparedness and response notes that an estimated 26 million people were displaced by armed conflicts and violence in 2007, while each year up to 50 million people are displaced due to disasters. The report suggests that climate change could increase these numbers.
The report highlights that girls, boys and women typically are the most affected by emergencies and that displacement undermines livelihoods and social support mechanisms. This can lead to family separations and increase children’s vulnerability to discrimination, abuse, violence, poverty and exploitation. The publication provides information on how to prevent child and maternal deaths, diseases, injuries and violence. [The Report]

World Health Day Celebrated

Climate-L.org - IISDRS — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:36:09 +0000

7 April 2010: The 2010 edition of World Health Day was celebrated on 7 April around the theme “Urbanization: a challenge for public health.” To mark the Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Commonwealth Secretariat released a couple of publications that underline linkages between urban health and climate change.

According to the WHO background paper titled “Why urban health matters,”urban areas concentrate both emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and people at risk from climate change impacts such as heat waves, water scarcity, increasing levels of air pollution or rising sea levels. Key vulnerability factors include coastal location and exposure to the urban heat-island effect, whereby urban temperatures may be 5–11°C higher than in surrounding rural areas due to the greater heat absorption of dense urban built spaces and lowered capacity for evaporative cooling.
The Commonwealth Secretariat issued a discussion paper titled “The state of the cities: why, and how, the Commonwealth must address the challenge of sustainable urbanization.” This paper stresses that climate change and slum-based poverty are exacerbated by today’s urban growth. It argues that Commonwealth professions and civil society organizations need to work more closely to explore ways in which urban forces impact on health, environment, forests and climate change. The paper also recommends that urban development decisions address climate change.
In a message to mark the Day, Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General, underlined that urban health is threatened by climate change and extreme weather conditions, which also bring about severe strains on health service delivery. [WHO Background Paper] [World Health Day Website] [Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Message] [Commonwealth Secretariat Discussion Paper]