A call to action published on Wednesday urges governments to agree to a legally binding plan to phase out fossil fuel exploration and production, similar to the Framework Convention on Tobacco, negotiated under the auspices of the WHO in 2003. “The modern addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of environmental vandalism. From a health perspective, it is an act of self-sabotage,” said WHO President Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of the WHO’s climate change division, said the letter was a watershed moment. “This is the first time the health sector has come together to issue such a statement specifically about fossil fuels,” he told the Guardian. “The current burden of death and disease from air pollution is comparable to that of tobacco use, while the long-term effects of fossil fuels on the Earth’s climate pose an existential threat to humanity – as do nuclear weapons.” The campaign to end fossil fuel exploration and production has won widespread support from the Dalai Lama and 100 other Nobel laureates, the Vatican, many cities and island nations, more than 1,000 health professionals and nearly 3,000 scientists and academics. The initiative aims to emulate the successes of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, signed in 1968, which limited the spread of atomic weapons and technology to some extent. More countries have signed this treaty than any other arms limitation convention, although nuclear powers such as India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan have not. Ira Helfand, Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-chair of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, said: “The two dominant issues of our time – the climate crisis and the risk of nuclear war – are deeply intertwined. The climate crisis is leading to greater international conflict and an increasing risk of nuclear war, and nuclear war will cause catastrophic, abrupt climate disruption. The world must come together to prevent both of these existential threats.” In emailed comments supporting the new initiative, award-winning professor Noam Chomsky said: “People are walking towards a cliff. When we reach it, an unimaginable disaster is inevitable. There is a narrow window of opportunity to save ourselves and the countless other species we are destroying with reckless abandon. There is still time to get off fossil fuels, not long. We will seize the opportunity, or the human experiment will come to an ignominious end.” In addition to an existential threat to future generations, fossil fuels pose a risk to the present, claiming more than 8 million premature lives in 2018, 18% of that year’s total deaths, according to a study. Most of these deaths were caused by air pollution, but the climate crisis is also increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses and creating ideal conditions for the transmission of food- and water-borne diseases and the spread of vector-borne diseases . The most important stories on the planet. Get all the week’s environmental news – the good, the bad and the must-haves Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and wildfires pose their own health risks, while fossil fuel workers and communities near plants face a host of risks ranging from oil spills and pipeline bursts to lung diseases and cancers. The new initiative says the clean energy transition must respect indigenous rights and be fair for “every worker, community and country.” Ruth Etzel, co-chair of the International Pediatric Society’s environmental health group, said: “We have a moral duty to care and cannot remain silent about the global health risks posed by fossil fuels. Our message to government leaders around the world is this: The health of all living today and future generations depends on phasing out fossil fuels quickly, fairly and completely.”
