気候変動、人の健康に「記録的」脅威 報告書

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】気候変動が人の健康に及ぼす影響を監視する国際研究事業「ランセット・カウントダウン」は３０日に発表した年次報告書で、気候変動による人の健康への脅威は記録的に増大していると警告した。（写真は資料写真）
　同報告書は世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）など国連（ＵＮ）機関の専門家１２２人が作成。過去８年にわたって追跡してきた１５指標のうち１０指標が「憂慮すべき新たな記録に達した」と指摘した。これには異常気象の増加、暑さによる高齢者の死亡、感染症の拡大、干ばつや洪水による食料不足などが含まれている。
　報告書によると、暑さが原因で死亡した６５歳以上の高齢者は、１９９０年代から１６７％増加している。
　気温上昇により生息範囲が拡大した蚊が媒介するデング熱の感染者数は昨年、世界で５００万人を超え、過去最多を更新した。
　また ２０１６～２２年に世界の森林被覆の約５％が失われ、人類が排出する二酸化炭素（ＣＯ２）の吸収力が低下した。
　さらに報告書は、石油・ガス企業や一部の政府、銀行などが気候変動において「火に油を注いでいる」とも指摘した。
　報告書によると、記録的な利益を上げている大手石油・ガス企業は昨年以降、化石燃料を増産している。また多くの国の政府が、ロシアのウクライナ侵攻による石油・ガス価格の高騰への対策として、化石燃料への新たな補助金を支給した。
　ランセット・カウントダウンのマリーナ・ロマネッロ事務局長によると、２０２２年の化石燃料補助金は世界で１．４兆ドル（約２１０兆円）に達し、「より健全な未来への移行を実現するためのいかなる資金源よりもはるかに多い」と指摘した。
　ロマネッロ氏は「今すぐ行動を起こさなければ、未来は非常に危うい」と警告。「何年も言い続けてきたことだが、もう無駄にできる時間はまったくない。これまでに無駄にした時間の代償は、人命で支払われている」と訴えた。
　また同氏は日常レベルでできる対策として、気候に優しい食生活、化石燃料を使わない移動、化石燃料に投資する銀行との取引をやめること、地球温暖化対策を約束する政治家への投票などを挙げた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/10/30-20:15）

Climate change poses a growing threat to human health in a variety of record-breaking ways, a major report said Wednesday, the experts warning that wasted time has been paid in lives.
The new report was released as heatwaves, fires, hurricanes, droughts and floods have lashed the world during what is expected to surpass 2023 to become the hottest year on record.
It also comes just weeks before the United Nations COP29 talks are held in Azerbaijan -- and days before a US election that could see climate change sceptic Donald Trump return to the White House.
The eighth Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, developed by 122 experts including from UN agencies such as the World Health Organization, painted a dire picture of death and delay.
Out of 15 indicators that the experts have been tracking over the last eight years, 10 have reached concerning new records, the report said.
These included the increasing extreme weather events, elderly deaths from heat, spread of infectious diseases, and people going without food as droughts and floods hit crops.
Lancet Countdown executive director Marina Romanello told AFP the report showed there are record threats to the health and survival of people in every country, to levels we have never seen before.
- 'Fuelling the fire' -
The number of over-65s who died from heat has risen by 167 percent since the 1990s, the report said.
Rising temperatures have also increased the area where mosquitoes roam, taking deadly diseases with them.
Last year saw a new record of over five million cases of dengue worldwide, the report noted.
Around five percent of the world's tree cover was destroyed between 2016 and 2022, reducing Earth's capacity to capture the carbon dioxide humans are emitting.
It also tracked how oil and gas companies -- as well as some governments and banks -- were fuelling the fire of climate change.
Despite decades of warnings, global emissions of the main greenhouse gases rose again last year, the World Meteorological Organization said earlier this week.
Large oil and gas companies, which have been posting record profits, have increased fossil fuel production since last year, the report said.
Many countries also handed out fresh subsidies to fossil fuels to counteract soaring oil and gas prices after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Fossil fuel subsidies amounted to $1.4 trillion in 2022, which is vastly more than any source of commitments to enable a transition to a healthier future, Romanello said.
- 'No more time to waste' -
But there were also some very encouraging signs of progress, she added.
For example, deaths from fossil fuel-related air pollution fell by nearly seven percent to 2.10 million from 2016 to 2021, mainly due to efforts to reduce pollution from burning coal, the report said.
The share of clean renewables used to generate electricity nearly doubled over the same period to 10.5 percent, it added.
And there are signs that climate negotiations are paying more attention to health, Romanello said, pointing to the COP talks and national climate plans to be submitted early next year.
If action is not taken today, the future will be very dangerous, she warned.
There is really no more time to waste -- I know we have been saying this for many years -- but what we are seeing is that the wasted time has been paid in lives.
For people at home, Romanello advised a climate-friendly diet, travelling without burning dirty energy, ditching banks that invest in fossil fuels and voting for politicians promising greater action on global warming.