The triple threat of climate change, conflict, and health emergencies makes for a problematic mix, especially for the world’s people living in fragile settings. This is the message from teams with the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
These organizations see each day that climate change not as a distant threat; instead, it is already affecting vulnerable people across the globe. To mark the United Nations COP27 climate conference there is a renewed call on world leaders to live up to their commitments under the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030. These commitments are designed to help ensure that vulnerable and conflict-affected people are adequately supported to adapt to a changing climate.
Data indicates that people who are affected most by the changing climate are invariably those who face armed conflict and health emergencies. Of the 25 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, the majority are also experiencing armed conflict.
In many of these locations, these people lack access to basic health care. People’s lives, health, and livelihoods are threatened when climate shocks occur in countries with limited food, water, and economic resources.
In a statement, Stephen Cornish, director general of MSF-Switzerland states: “Today, needs are already outstripping the response. This is a crisis of solidarity—and it is now giving way to a crisis of morality. The world cannot leave those suffering the most tragic consequences without support.”
One of the reasons for additional climate disruption is because droughts, floods, insect plagues, and changing rainfall patterns can jeopardize food production and people’s means of survival.
In addition, extreme weather events, such as cyclones, can destroy essential health infrastructure and make accessing medical care difficult.
To add to this, there are changing patterns of deadly diseases such as malaria, dengue, and cholera, and conflict and violence are increasing the need for emergency health assistance while also limiting the capacity of health facilities.
To take an example, the country of Somalia has suffered an erratic cycle of droughts and floods in recent years, exacerbating a dire humanitarian situation further (one complicated by three decades of armed conflict).
