WHO: “If our planet were a patient, it would be admitted to the ICU”

“If our planet were a patient, it would be admitted to intensive care”warned this Thursday the general director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in Nairobi before the VI Assembly of the UN for the Environment (UNEA-6).

“His vital signs are alarming”said Tedros at the opening of the high-level segment of UNEA-6, the world’s main environmental decision-making body, before a dozen African heads of State and Government and ministers from around the world.

“There is a fever, and each of the last nine months has been the hottest on record.” and “their lung capacity is compromised, with the destruction of forests that absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen”said the head of the WHO.

Tedros recalled that “many of the Earth’s water sources – its lifeblood – are contaminated” and warned that “The most worrying thing of all is that his condition is deteriorating rapidly.”

In this context, the Ethiopian diplomat pointed out that it is not surprising that “the health “human is suffering” when the health of the planet “Is in danger”.

As examples of that reality, Tedros said that “more heat waves contribute to more cardiovascular diseases”while air pollution “causes lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

Likewise, chemicals such as lead “cause intellectual disability, cardiovascular and kidney diseases”while drought and water scarcity “affect food production, making healthy diets less affordable.”

Additionally, climate change is causing changes in the behavior, distribution, movement, range and intensity of mosquitoes, birds and other animals that spread infectious diseases such as dengue and malaria to new areas.

Illegal wildlife trade, he added, also increases the risk of zoonotic contagion that can trigger a pandemic.

In his opinion, the causes of this crisis are “multisectoral”, as well as its impacts, and that is how the response should be.

“Collectively, we got ourselves into this mess. Collectively, we must get through this. “No country or agency can do this alone.”Tedros concluded.

UNEA-6 brings together more than 5,000 representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector this week in Nairobi, including 150 ministers and deputy ministers, from more than 180 countries registered for the occasion, according to the United Nations Development Programme. Environment (UNEP), with headquarters in Nairobi.

The summit focuses on analyzing how multilateralism can help address the so-called “triple planetary crisis”: climate change, the loss of nature and biodiversity, and pollution and waste.

In this sixth session since the launch of the Assembly in 2014, the countries evaluate in the Kenyan capital some 19 resolutions that cover challenges such as stopping desertification, counteracting air pollution or limiting chemical pollution.

The resolutions of the UNEA, which includes the 193 UN Member States, are not legally binding, but are considered an important first step on the path to global environmental agreements and national policy formulation.