LASER TALK: Carbon Pricing: A Prescription for Climate Health

Carbon Pricing: A Prescription for Climate Health

The threat to human health from climate change is so great that it could undermine the last 50 years of gains in development and global health, experts warned in the Lancet in June 2015. In November 2017, the Lancet published Planetary health: protecting human health on a rapidly changing planet  and there have been yearly reports since.  Here is the 2024 report. 


The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reports consistently highlight climate change as the greatest global threat to human health. The reports document increasing health risks from extreme heat, air pollution, vector-borne diseases, and food insecurity—disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations.

They also emphasize that carbon pricing is a critical policy tool to mitigate these risks. By internalizing the health costs of fossil fuel pollution, carbon pricing can drive emissions reductions, improve air quality, and prevent millions of premature deaths. The reports argue that higher carbon prices, paired with strong social policies, can accelerate the transition to clean energy while protecting public health.

The good news is burning fewer fossil fuels reduces respiratory diseases and getting people walking and cycling more cuts pollution, road accidents and rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

In August, 2015, the Canadian Medical Association divested from fossil fuels  and the members approved a motion (DM 5-21) to promote the health benefits of a strong and predictable price on carbon emissions.

Public health officials know that if you are concerned about public health you should also be concerned about climate change.  If we want to prevent the health consequences of climate change, we need to work to decrease our fossil fuel emissions and carbon pricing is a key tool to use.   

Source of image:
https://www.cma.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/Secure/resolutions-passed-at-gc_final_english.pdf

 

Go back to Laser Talks Page.