Pollution kills nine million people each year and sickens many more, mostly in poorer nations. The global health effects of climate change are less well quantified, but also increasing with lower-income countries again bearing the brunt of greater food insecurity, increased rates of chronic respiratory illnesses, and shifts in malarial zones. CFR’s Global Health, Economics, and Development Roundtable Series held a discussion on the global health nexus between climate change and pollution and how a more coherent approach to these issues can advance progress at a time when some policymakers, especially in the United States, are unmoved by the environmental, health, and economic consequences expected in the coming decades.
The featured speaker for this discussion was Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, dean for global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and recent co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health.
Energy and Environment
Pollution
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China’s mounting environmental crisis is endangering the pace of its economic growth and threatening the legitimacy of the ruling party.
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China is developing new tools to address its pressing environmental pollution, but these efforts are likely to be muted until fundamental changes are made to the country’s policy structure, writes CFR’s Yanzhong Huang.
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Soaring levels of air, water, and soil pollution pose growing health risks and feed public discontent toward the government, but political hurdles prevent China from effectively addressing the problems, writes CFR’s Yanzhong Huang.
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Japan’s ability to rebound from its triple disaster in March will require more than just rebuilding; it will demand restructuring in areas from energy and farm policy to decentralization of power, write Brian P. Klein and CFR’s David S. Abraham.
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In the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett discusses the health concerns the country faces.
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United Kingdom's foreign secretary, William Hague, discusses the urgency of an international climate deal in which all countries accept responsibility for climate change, enforce a more robust framework for high growth and low carbon economic models, and ensure a new sustainable pathway to prosperity and security.