IT’S almost COP season again, the now annual gathering of our leaders at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is where they try to figure out what to do about the danger that the climate crisis has become.
COP28 will begin in Dubai at the end of November. And, ironically, the largest delegation there likely won’t come from a country but rather from the fossil fuel industry, which collectively fielded 600 delegates to participate in negotiations at COP27 in Egypt in November 2022.
Christina Figueres, formerly the UN’s steward of the Paris Agreement, recently expressed huge frustration with oil companies. I have to say that I share her frustration – not just with our own state-owned fossil fuel company but also with our government, which are both saying all the right things but not acting with sufficient haste to free us from the fossil-fuel financing straitjacket that funds somewhere around 20% of Malaysia’s federal budget.
I realise that funds are needed to meet our rakyat’s needs, but as fossil fuels begin to time out, we must diversify where our economic resources come from. We have the knowledge and innovations that we need and must do everything we can to pivot towards more sustainable sources of financing.
As UN Secretary-General António Guterres explained, we have left the era of global warming and entered a frightening era of global boiling. But what do we see? Oil companies cutting back, slowing down or, at best, painfully maintaining their piecemeal decarbonisation commitments, paying higher dividends to shareholders, buying back more shares and – in some countries – lobbying governments to reverse clean energy policies while paying lip service to change.
Remember that licences to drill in new sites for oil are issued by governments; without them no more new sites can be drilled. But new sites are still being drilled because, apparently, we need access to fossil fuels more than we need investment in clean energy.
This continued pursuit of fossil fuels seems all the more bizarre as we see the consequences of burning them. The hottest day on Earth ever recorded occurred last month. The oceans are warmer than at any time since records began. Wildfires are ravaging Canada, Europe, and Russia.
The temperature was more than 40°C in Malaysia in April; in China more than 50°C was recorded in July, while in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Turkey, and states in North Africa the temperature has hovered between 40°C and 50°C.
Extreme heat events lead to severe health implications, with vulnerable populations – such as the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing medical conditions – facing the highest risk. Heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heatstroke, can be fatal if not addressed promptly.
The cause of all of it: human-induced climate change from burning fossil fuels.
Let’s be clear – heat-related illnesses are as real as any other form of illness. US climate envoy John Kerry explains it most clearly: “Make no mistake, folks. It is a battle. I’ve never seen people so willing to wrap their arms around ignorance ... and be unwilling to do what the facts are screaming at us. There’s really no polite way to put it, the climate crisis is killing people.”
Heat exhaustion can cause symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and excessive sweating, while heatstroke, a potentially life-threatening condition, can lead to organ failure and neurological disturbances. Extreme heat exacerbates air pollution. Worsening air quality aggravates respiratory conditions such as asthma, compromising respiratory health and overall well-being. Heatwaves put an immense strain on the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Individuals with heart conditions are particularly vulnerable during extreme heat events.
And so we look to COP28 – being held in the Middle East, the main oil-producing region of the planet – to help us find solutions.
But I actually smell some hope here. One full day of the meeting is being devoted to climate and health. It’s recognition, for the first time at one of these climate meetings, that at the root of our concerns over the horror that is being unleashed upon us all must be action that places health at the centre.
I see two obvious areas for increased urgency at COP28.
Firstly, in the immediate term, delegates need to work out how to enhance public health preparedness and so make progress in protecting us all from the devastating health consequences of extreme heat events.
Secondly, highlighting health at this event should help to accelerate the decarbonisation of health systems around the world – an urgent priority given that between 4% and 5% of global carbon emissions are from the health sector.
The time to act is now, as a sustainable future hinges on collective action and determination to confront the challenges of climate change head-on. But without public pressure on our global representatives – and remember, they are our representatives, not representatives of fossil fuel lobbyists – I fear COP28 will be like its predecessors, all talk and no action.
However, despite what some doom-mongers are saying, I believe that it’s not too late. But we must face the challenges ahead with a combination of hope and realistic optimism. Never before have science and technology been able to offer us so much, but to benefit we need to unwrap our “arms around ignorance” and embrace solutions instead.
Dr Jemilah Mahmood, a physician and experienced crisis leader, was appointed the executive director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in August 2021. She is the founder of aid organisation Mercy Malaysia and has served in leadership roles internationally with the United Nations and Red Cross for the last decade. She writes on Planetary Health Matters once a month under Ecowatch.
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