On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, the French Network of Healthy Cities and the City of Nice organized a national conference “Health and Climate Change: Combining Mitigation, Adaptation, and Prevention in Health”. During this event, a round table was held to discuss the multiple consequences of climate change on health.
Climate change, which is becoming increasingly evident, poses one of the main challenges for public health. Drought, excessive rainfall, rising temperatures, heatwaves, and rising sea levels have and will have direct effects on the health of populations.
It is now widely recognized and studied by the scientific community that health is closely linked to climate change. Therefore, it is crucial to combine mitigation, adaptation, and prevention in health to address these challenges.
The Speakers
- Mathilde PASCAL, Project Manager “Air, Climate, and Health”, Santé publique France.
- Véronique MONDAIN, CHU of Nice, on infectious diseases and their impact on the health system.
- Didier FONTENILLE, IRD Montpellier, on vector-borne diseases and the “One Health” approach.
- Antoine PELISSOLO, PU-PH Paris-Est Créteil on mental health and eco-anxiety.
- Isabelle HÉBÉ, Ademe, on climate change and food systems.
Physical Health
Nowadays, we are faced with and will increasingly face an increase in chronic diseases related to our environment, as well as a resurgence of infectious diseases. Managing our relationship with the environment contributes to the increase in pandemics, epidemics, and infectious diseases.
Let’s Talk Solutions:
- Awareness and education.
- Creating supportive environments that promote healthy and sustainable life choices.
- Collaboration between sectors. Partnerships between health, environment, agriculture, education, and urban planning sectors allow for the coherent integration of climate change considerations into health prevention policies and programs.
Then also, and this is what we will focus on, promoting healthy and sustainable eating. Nowadays, it is crucial to encourage healthy and sustainable food choices that reduce environmental impact. Protecting the environment is improving one’s health. Note that our diet is responsible for about a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions.
Consume More Raw Products
Over time, we have lost the connection between agricultural production and our consumption. In the span of 10 years, our consumption of processed products has increased by 40%. Processed products contain additives, colorants, and preservatives… It is therefore essential to re-establish the link between what is produced and what is consumed. Consumers need to be more conscious of what they eat and promote the consumption of raw products over processed ones.
Products with Better Nutritional Quality
It is recommended to favor the consumption of products with better nutritional quality. Less intensive, more diversified, seasonal, and local agriculture provides products with better nutritional quality while offering a considerable environmental advantage.
People who primarily adopt an organic diet show a notable decrease in cardiovascular diseases and obesity compared to the rest of the population, as well as a reduction in pesticide residues in their bodies.
Rebalance Your Plate
It would be beneficial to have a more appropriate balance between plant-based and animal-based products by adjusting our meat consumption. Our current meat consumption exceeds our actual needs.
Reducing meat consumption is a significant lever for limiting environmental impact. A diet that includes about 170 g of meat per day generates three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a mostly vegetarian diet. Additionally, meat production requires four times more agricultural land than if these lands were used directly to grow plants for human consumption.
Mental Health
Climate change also has a considerable impact on individuals’ mental health. We see a increase in mental disorders related to climate change and the emergence of eco-anxiety, more or less intense depending on the individual. More than two-thirds of young people say they are worried and nearly one-third suffer from the fear of the consequences of climate change.
Indirect effects of climate change, such as environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, natural disasters, and socio-economic disruptions, can contribute to the increase in mental disorders. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders can be exacerbated due to these factors.
For example, studies have shown that there is a link between high temperatures, including heatwaves, and increased risks of mental health problems, including suicides (although the relationship between high temperatures and suicides is complex and multifactorial).
Let’s Talk Solutions:
- Awareness and education, by informing the public about eco-anxiety and the psychological impacts of climate change.
- Access to mental health services.
- Encouragement of individual and collective action.
- Open and honest communication on climate issues.
