Climate change | A silent health crisis

Climate change highlights urgent need for action, writes Abhi Singhal

When we talk about health and wellbeing, the obvious facts to relate to are the environment and climate. The climate has been affected in recent years, in turn affecting our health and increasing threats.

Climate must be seen as a serious problem that must be addressed as quickly as possible.

To address all these issues, Partnership for Impact launched Voices for Impact. Their agenda for the discussion was Addressing Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier. This issue was the subject of a discussion and roundtable discussion with Ms. Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India; Dr Aditya Bahadur, Director of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Center and Dr Shagun Sabarwal, Asian Regional Director of Co-Impact.

The roundtable was not only about explaining climate change, but also about finding a solution to the problem, understanding it better, and envisioning a partnership that could actually make a solid impact.

The discussion focused more on the realization that climate change poses a threat to health in ways that people do not suspect and that it has many obstacles and layers that must be overcome to achieve an identical solution. .

The discussion also focused on gender inequalities and highlighted the fact that women and children, who have no role to play in climate change policy, are the most affected.

Natasha Godinho, Vice President of GHS, moderator of the conversation, said: “Climate change is not just a health crisis, a water crisis or a global food crisis, it is much more, and women and children happen to be the face of this crisis. Years of inequitable social structures and patriarchal systems have left women worse off than men, and lack of access to financial resources, land ownership and property rights means women are much older than men.

On the future of the country and whether India is ready to accept climate change, Vini Mahajan said: “I think we will when the crisis turns. India is excellent at handling crisis. “

It is important that everyone knows how the climate changes every day with each heat wave and each temporary disaster that affects us, and mainly our health and well-being.

The panel also had a serious exchange of words on the issue of water, water sanitation and air pollution in Delhi (which has a major impact on health).

Climate change was linked to many possible outcomes and solutions during the discussion. This meant that when it comes to climate, rather than just thinking about new things, we need to see how climate responses can be integrated into current systems. Our social protection systems are therefore designed to target the most vulnerable. They have a huge reach in India. Can we start integrating them is a question.

Dr. Shagun Sabarwal focused on AI and large learning models, and their use of lots of water to keep them cool, and even the necessary minerals. She addressed this as one of her main concerns, saying, “To me, it’s like we solve one problem and then have another.” »

The importance of location was explained in the same way, which made the conversation even more insightful.

“I feel that India’s welfare program also demonstrates how you can effectively locate, where MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds are effectively controlled by institutions localities, and measures are being taken to integrate climate risk into the MGNREGA, which I believe will be achieved in the coming years. So I would say that localization is a very important solution,” explained. Dr. Aditya Bahadur while talking about the policies and their effectiveness.

The overall conversation provided insight into issues being raised differently due to climate and the importance of speaking publicly to find answers and implement solutions.