COP 29: ‘Under the weather’ report on health and climate change
By Renate Meyer, Climate Centre, South Africa
The climate crisis is a health crisis. A Red Cross Red Crescent report launched today at COP 29 in Baku sheds light on the health consequences of climate change in Burkina Faso, Malawi and Somalia, among the most vulnerable countries in the world.
As impacts like food insecurity and cholera in Malawi, droughts and flooding in Somalia, and scorching heatwaves in Burkina Faso continue to intensify, so too does the toll on people.
The report – Under the weather: Stories from communities on the front lines of climate and health adaptation – features people living in these three countries who are experiencing the climate crisis, and some of the ways they are adapting.
The cascading impacts of the climate and health crisis are affecting people in the here and now. Climate and health are moving up the global agenda but, as the case studies highlight, action on the ground needs to accelerate.
Double burden
In April, temperatures in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou reached 45°C, for example. Roads melted and power cuts stretched to more than ten hours a day, so even those who could afford air conditioning or fans could not use them.
For people with physical disabilities, extreme heat is a double burden. Kone Bourema, who leads a national association for the disabled, explains: “It is difficult to move outside when it is so hot. There is a lot of dust, you become exhausted, and it is hard to find shade and water.”
As well as posing a health risk, the heat made it nearly impossible to work, directly affecting people’s livelihoods.
In Malawi, climate change exacerbates extreme-weather events like the tropical cyclones that quickly generate life-threatening challenges: floods, food insecurity, and cholera.
Ruth Stevens from the village of Pakamwa in the south of the country says: “Even the small things that we could have relied upon, that survived the flooding, are now gone with the sun.”
Her worry is echoed by Lytoni Cross in the neighbouring community of Chapananga: “Our social well-being is difficult. I’ve got three children who are in secondary school. I’m struggling to get school fees … It’s been a very big challenge.”
Limited resources mean families have to make choices between essentials like food, health care and education.
Empty land
In Somalia, floods and droughts are combining with conflict to leave many people without access to health care.
Coastal Kulub village in the Jariiban district used to be a vibrant fishing community; now it’s a stark reminder of the devastation induced by climate impacts and conflict. Sand from the beaches has swallowed the village, and what was once fertile land now sits empty.
Abdi Yusuf, a 61-year-old community explains that as well as jobs, the fisheries supported health benefits for workers: “Now, we have no such facilities. People have to travel up to 250 kilometres to receive basic medical care,” leading to an increase malaria and diarrhoea.
The new report calls on decision-makers and institutions to act decisively in key areas of the health sector, all under the leadership of local communities: adaptation, climate-resilience, collaboration and communication, funding, and the tracking of outcomes.
It is a joint publication of the IFRC, the Burkinabe, Malawi and Norwegian Red Cross, the Somali Red Crescent, and the Climate Centre, and was introduced at a special event at COP 29 in Baku today.
Two people ride past a bridge that was destroyed by flooding on Malawi’s River Mwanza by Cyclone Freddy, while a woman washes her sorghum crop. The image appears in a new report detailing the health consequences of climate change in Burkina Faso, Malawi and Somalia, among the most vulnerable countries in the world. (Photo: Norwegian Red Cross)