WHO Director General's statement at the International Court of Justice Responding to the Climate Change Health Crisis 13 December 2024

Good afternoon, Mr President, honourable Members of the Court.

I am privileged as the Director-General to appear before you on behalf of the World Health Organization, which I will refer to as WHO.

Before I start my remarks, I would like to tell you about my visit to Tuvalu in 2019 - already five years ago - I had the privilege of meeting a remarkable young boy named Falou.

He shared with me the conversations he had with his friends about the potential sinking of Tuvalu and the uncertain future they faced.

Some of his friends contemplated leaving the island in case Tuvalu sinks. That is, by the way, a high probability. They were actually specific, seeking refuge in Fiji - while others expressed their willingness to stay in Tuvalu and sink with their beloved homeland. These are children, eleven to thirteen years old, who are saying this.

Falou's words touched my heart, serving as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by children in the Pacific.

Children should be children, I would have loved if Falou was laughing and playing and being a child but he wasn't.

They worry about the survival of their island homes due to the emissions produced by distant nations.

This reality weighs heavily on their young shoulders. Imagine our children carrying this heavy weight on their shoulders, highlighting the profound impact our actions, or lack thereof, have on the lives of the most vulnerable.

While the climate crisis is multi-faceted, from the perspective of WHO, it is fundamentally a health crisis.

It is among the most significant health challenges facing humanity today.

And it is not a hypothetical crisis in the future. It is here and now.

Climate change and extreme weather are wreaking havoc on humans and their health, disrupting societies, economies, and development.

Without immediate action, climate-related increases in disease prevalence, destruction of health infrastructure, and growing societal burdens could overwhelm already over-burdened health systems around the world.

Mr President and honourable Members of the Court, WHO has been collecting evidence on the health impacts of climate change for over 25 years.

Let me briefly illustrate some of the impacts.

Disease transmission is already changing.

Transmission of diseases like malaria, dengue, and cholera could significantly increase as weather becomes more extreme, reducing access to safe water and contributing to the expansion of disease-carrying vectors, such as mosquitoes.

Noncommunicable diseases, including cancers and cardiovascular diseases, are all associated with climate change and air pollution.

WHO estimates that seven million deaths a year are linked to air pollution.

Increasingly frequent and severe weather events linked to climate change are causing deaths and injuries, while destroying health infrastructure and overburdening health systems.

We are seeing record-breaking and often lethal temperatures; the highest record was July this year. Megafires destroying homes; deadly hurricanes affecting island and coastal states; and floods that kill thousands and displace millions.

Already, an estimated 920 million children face water scarcity. This will almost certainly worsen as climate change increases the severity and frequency of droughts, contamination of water supplies, and water salinity in coastal areas.

Extreme weather further disrupts agriculture and other food sources, increasing food insecurity and malnutrition.

Crop yields and fisheries production are disrupted; fresh water supplies are degraded and depleted; eco-systems damaged.

Displacement will be massive, with 154 million people currently living less than one meter above sea level. Remember the Tuvalu story I told you earlier.

Millions are expected to be pushed into poverty, with an estimate of extreme poverty for more than 130 million people by 2030.

This will dramatically increase health burdens and disparities.

Higher temperatures also mean increased heat-related deaths and illnesses.

Addressing climate change is a matter of equity.

The health impacts of the climate crisis do not fall evenly on all populations.

Small Island Developing States and other low-lying coastal regions are especially at risk.

These states, known as SIDS, represent 1% of the world's population and economy and emit less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions, and yet they are disproportionately and severely affected by climate change, sea level rise, and natural disasters.

Women, children, ethnic minorities, poor communities, migrants and displaced persons, older people, and those with underlying health conditions will suffer disproportionately.

As dire as climate change is for health, the situation is not yet hopeless, but the world must act now.

In recent years, WHO has cooperated closely with its Member States and United Nations agencies to develop response measures and health protection strategies.

In May 2008, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, adopted Resolution 61.19 calling for WHO to take action on the health impact of climate change.

Since then, and together with the wider health community, WHO has worked to promote health in national and international climate change responses, including in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

But right now, not enough is being done. In our report published last month at COP29, WHO is clear about the need for mitigation and adaptation to protect and ensure health.

Unfortunately, mitigation is not yet on pace to be effective to avoid the most catastrophic impacts related to climate change.

Last year saw CO2 emissions reach their highest levels to date.

And while adaptation is important, we cannot rely on it, given the unknowns of climatic tipping points.

Fossil fuels also still account for 80% of global primary energy, due in part to massive fossil fuel subsidies by governments, estimated at over 600 billion US dollars per year.

As we stated in our recent report to COP29, only a rapid and equitable phase out of fossil fuels can protect the health of both people and the planet from the climate crisis.

At the same time, I want to stress that in working closely with Member States to study and recommend mitigation and adaptation measures, we also see many opportunities.

At all turns, we look to capture what we call the "co-benefits" of policies that both reduce climate change and improve human health.

Take, for example, air pollution.

The IMF suggests that pricing fossil-fuels in line with their health and environmental impacts could save roughly 1.2 million people from air-pollution related deaths each year.

Similar examples can be found in relation to mitigation and adaptation measures and outcomes for agriculture, access to water, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and more.

The value of health improvements from mitigation significantly outweighs the costs.

WHO estimates that every US dollar spent on specific climate and health actions will bring an average return of 4 US dollars.

In this way, the dichotomy sometimes suggested between the costs of taking action-or not-is false.

The failure to respond to climate change is undoubtedly the most costly approach.

This leads us to the necessity for global action.

Honourable Members of the Court, WHO was founded in 1948, as the world emerged from the devastation of the Second World War.

Like the United Nations of which we are part, WHO was born of the recognition that the only way to address shared health threats is with a shared response.

This was reiterated by the World Health Assembly, which determined, as with other global health challenges, that "solutions to the health impacts of climate change should be seen as a joint responsibility of all States".

We cannot wait to address the climate crisis.

That means robust and sustained financing is essential, both in relation to limiting greenhouse gas emissions and in preparing health systems and other adaptation measures.

While developing countries are especially in need of assistance, ultimately all of us benefit from investments in climate change mitigation and from helping those bearing its burdens.

Addressing the climate crisis is about urgently protecting people, place, and planet-for a healthier world now, and for the future we leave our children.

WHO's Legal Counsel, my colleague, Derek Walton, will now discuss the role of science and technical evidence in the Court's deliberations and WHO's mandate as it relates to the climate change health crisis.

I thank you.

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