The climate crisis hits vulnerable people hardest
In many MSF project locations, our medical humanitarian teams are responding to situations that are linked to the changing environment. This includes increasing numbers of people with infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and cholera, as a result of changing rainfall and temperature patterns. There are also increasing cases of zoonotic diseases—those transmitted from animals to humans— due in part to rising pressures on the environment and more frequent extreme weather events, such as cyclones, hurricanes, and droughts. Extreme weather can also contribute to malnutrition. In many places where we work today, our teams see people with multiple health needs resulting from frequent epidemics, food insecurity, conflict, and displacement— all of which are exacerbated by the climate emergency.
Urgency to act
Building on MSF’s 2020 Environmental Pact, we recognize the need to make real and immediate changes in order to help curb the health impacts of climate change. This is why we are pledging to drastically reduce our emissions within this decade and why we are joining the Climate Charter. As an emergency medical organization, our priority will always be to provide rapid assistance to people in some of the world’s most remote places. We must find a way to do this while minimizing our environmental footprint. Within MSF, across the humanitarian sector, and in the whole of society, we must change the way we operate. This will not be easy, but will only become more necessary as climate change increasingly exacerbates humanitarian emergencies.
“Decarbonizing the way we implement and support our medical emergency projects in over 70 countries is not a small task. But we are determined to get there, and we are working from all angles to find solutions,” says Christou. “If we want to spare future generations from more suffering and disasters, we all need to take responsibility. The climate crisis is ultimately a health crisis and curbing emissions is now part of our humanitarian action.”
