'Health is the face of climate change': how can cities mitigate impact of global warming

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00:00Thus, we focus on COP30, the 30th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

00:06It's just around the corner. All eyes are on the host country, Brazil,

00:10a country, of course, rich in natural resources and at the heart of the global climate conversation.

00:15There are warnings that the Paris Accord to keep the planet cooler can now not be met.

00:21That, of course, was limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.

00:27For that, you can read from 1850 onwards, which, of course, could have a knock-on effect for the polar ice caps,

00:34Arctic, Antarctic shelves, but also for the health of the world.

00:37A heart of the planet means that insects, for instance, carrying infectious diseases,

00:41can thrive in places where in the past it may well have been too cold to allow them to survive.

00:46I'm thinking of in Iceland recently, mosquitoes discovered there for the very first time.

00:51Gabriel Nedler has this look at how the climate change issue is affecting our health.

00:57Around the world, people are experiencing the impact of climate change in real time

01:02as extreme heatwaves and air pollution affect human health.

01:06According to the 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change, published last Wednesday,

01:12it's worse than ever before.

01:14Climate change risks on health and the threats to our health and well-being are growing

01:19and are reaching new record high levels across most of the indicators in which we're monitoring them.

01:25And we're also seeing a world that is kind of backtracking on the necessary climate actions

01:30and on previous commitments that would have protected people's health and people's well-being.

01:33The report, released about a week before COP30 in Brazil,

01:37found that since the 1990s, heat-related deaths have increased 23% to 546,000 annually.

01:43While fire smoke was also linked to a record 154,000 deaths in 2024,

01:50and burning fossil fuels was found to cause 2.5 million deaths a year.

01:54Experts are urging leaders to use COP30 to take meaningful action

01:57to address the worsening health consequences.

01:59So we need well-articulated global efforts to ensure that, firstly,

02:06we are adapting to climate change and we're supporting all countries

02:11in strengthening our health systems to give a good response

02:14and reduce the threat of infectious disease transmission

02:17and other adverse health impacts of climate change

02:20through good health system adaptation.

02:22That needs funding, that needs knowledge, and that needs cooperation.

02:26This message has been echoed by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates,

02:31who wrote a blog post last Tuesday arguing COP30 should centre human welfare

02:35and focus on bettering health and agriculture in vulnerable nations.

02:40Thank you for that report.

02:42I'm now joined for more on this from Berlim in Brazil,

02:45where COP30 will be taking place by Emilia Carrera.

02:48Emilia is a leading voice in health and green advocacy.

02:51She is the director of the health initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation.

02:55Emilia Carrera, thank you for being with us in France 24.

02:57We appreciate you joining us.

02:59What are you expecting from what is obviously a pivotal summit in Brazil,

03:04as the fight for a cleaner, healthier planet is more urgent than ever?

03:10First of all, thank you, Mark, for having me today.

03:14I'm calling from Rio de Janeiro, actually, at the pre-COP conference

03:18held here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

03:21It's a forum of local leaders, of city mayors, getting together on the road to COP.

03:30And this COP is quite important for health.

03:33We're expecting negotiators to come to agreement on indicators on climate and health,

03:38on targets and indicators related to, for example, heat-related mortality

03:43or universal health coverage.

03:44So this is a moment to go from pledges to action.

03:49And in here, this past couple of days in the pre-COP conference

03:54on Mayor's Summit held by C40 and other partners,

03:58it's been a moment to hear from mayors what's happening locally

04:01and what actions they are taking locally.

04:04I know Paris is part of this Cool Cities Accelerator initiative

04:09that you're involved with.

04:11I'm thinking back to what happened last summer, June 2025,

04:15235 excess deaths in France due to the heat.

04:19If we think back to 2003 when there was a big heat wave

04:23and a massive problem with people dying in Paris,

04:26nearly 2,000 people or more died because of the heat issues there.

04:31There was an inability to cope with the excess heat.

04:34And, of course, the planet is getting hotter.

04:36This hot weather is becoming more and more recurrent.

04:39How will your initiative, this Cool Cities Accelerator, help?

04:43What are you hoping to achieve with it?

04:47The Cool Cities Accelerator is a coalition of 33 cities,

04:5233 mayors committing to heat- and health-related targets

04:57and other heat targets for their cities.

05:00And it's a pledge that mayors are signing on to

05:05and committing action also to protect the residents from heat.

05:10So, in the short term, they are going to be implementing things like

05:14early warning systems for heat or understanding better how to do heat-related work

05:19and solving the governance issues around heat.

05:23In the longer term, these mayors are committing to rethinking

05:26and redesigning their cities so that the city itself is not as hot

05:31and people can live and have better lives in these places.

05:36So, it's a question of constructing better and enabling the people to use

05:40what they have around them in a better way in order to keep cooler.

05:43Amelia, can I park that there and maybe take you to a different kind of battle against the heat?

05:48That which people in Africa face, for instance.

05:52On my rare visits to Africa, and every time I've been there,

05:54I've been wonderfully welcomed and met some really interesting people.

05:58But one of the things that everybody's complained about is the fact that

06:01where they are, it gets too hot.

06:03And dealing with that is an increasing challenge.

06:08Correct. It's an increasing challenge.

06:10And not only in terms of health,

06:13I think there's another angle that sometimes we have to remember,

06:15and it's the productivity.

06:17Many people need to stop working because it's too hot.

06:22Actually, the Lancet countdown report that was mentioned earlier

06:25estimated the number of hours that were lost last year

06:29because it was too hot to work.

06:33In terms of people's health,

06:35I'm thinking now of including perhaps a criticism of what happened in the US

06:39with Donald Trump cutting US aid to certain countries.

06:43Are you seeing there's been an impact on that combined with the heat

06:47which is creating a more unhealthy situation for people, particularly across Africa?

06:51I cannot comment specifically on those cuts,

06:59but what I can tell you is that what we've seen so far is the commitment from local leaders,

07:04whether it's at the state level or city level,

07:08to respond to climate risks, including heat.

07:11And the Cool Cities Accelerator,

07:14it's only the first signal of 33 cities across the world committing to responding to these conditions.

07:21But it's not only that.

07:22I think we've seen many examples and many more leaders committing to other climate risks

07:28that are directly affecting their cities.

07:31Many times cities are on the front lines and they're seeing these needs closer

07:35and they are responding more effectively.

07:38I hear what you're saying.

07:39I know you look at Africa.

07:40I know you look at that in America too and across the Caribbean

07:43where we've been reporting on the effects of the climate there

07:46with Jamaica being hit, with the destruction that we've seen there.

07:52Obviously, the issue of heat and the effect on people's health

07:56right across the whole continent of the Americas.

07:58It is really something of vital importance to combat.

08:02What are the factors you're hoping to set in place briefly in this COP30?

08:07Can you give us a sense of what you'd like to leave COP30 with?

08:13I think it's going to be really important to come to an agreement on those indicators.

08:17What are those indicators that we want to agree as a whole world

08:21and we're committing to achieving?

08:24I think also keeping health at the forefront.

08:28When we talk about climate, health is the face of climate change.

08:32It makes people feel it.

08:33People see it.

08:35And so if we are able at this COP to elevate that message

08:39that health is the face of climate change

08:42and is the most tangible way to explain

08:45what is the impact of extreme weather events

08:48on people's lives and livelihoods,

08:51I think we would have advanced on our agenda.

08:55Amelia Carrera, thank you for taking time out of this pre-COP in Rio

08:59where you're trying to try to get a head start on the issues

09:02which are of vital importance, as you've been pointing out to us.

09:05Amelia Carrera, Director of the Health Initiative

09:07at the Rockefeller Foundation.

09:09Thank you so much for joining us

09:10and sharing your hopes and aspirations for this COP30,

09:12which is, of course, incredibly important.

09:15And as Amelia was saying, the issue of health, heat,

09:17and the effect of climate change on people

09:19is something that is more and more apparent to everybody.

09:21Amelia, thanks again for joining us here in France 24.

09:23We appreciate your time.

09:26Thank you so much.

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