United Nations agencies have issued a compelling Call for Action, emphasizing the severe health risks faced by pregnant women, infants, and children due to climate catastrophes, urging immediate attention.
In anticipation of the global Conference of the Parties climate change negotiations in Dubai, the agencies are calling on world leaders to prioritize the protection of newborns and children, acknowledging the overlooked impact of climate events on maternal and child health.
The Call for Action, released ahead of the conference, criticizes the neglect, underreporting, and underestimation of the effects of climate change on maternal and child health.
The document highlights a significant gap, noting that very few countries’ climate change response plans specifically address the health needs of women, newborns, and children. This omission is described as a “glaring omission” and indicative of insufficient attention to these critical aspects in the broader climate change discourse.
The Call to Action highlights seven urgent actions to address these mounting risks which include sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and action on climate finance, alongside the specific inclusion of the needs of pregnant women, babies and children within climate and disaster-related policies.
“To find climate solutions that acknowledge the distinct health needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls we must start by asking the right questions,” said Diene Keita, the Deputy Executive Director for Programmes at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “Global climate solutions must support – not sacrifice – gender equality.”
Assistant Director General for Universal Health Coverage, Life Course at the World Health Organisation Bruce Aylward was quoted as saying that children and pregnant women face the dire consequences of climate change.
“Climate change poses an existential threat to all of us, but pregnant women, babies and children face some of the gravest consequences of all.
“Children’s futures need to be consciously protected, which means taking climate action now for the sake of their health and survival, while ensuring their unique needs are recognised in the climate response, ” he was quoted as saying.