Managing the health effects of climate change

Climate change is the greatest global health threat of the 21st Century

A major report on managing the health effects of climate change, launched jointly by the Lancet and University College London claims that climate change is the biggest threat to global health in the 21st Century.

The poorest and those who have contributed least to climate change will be first affected, scientists say. The carbon footprint of the poorest 1 billion people is around 3% of the world's total footprint. The interdisciplinary panel of academics in health, geography and philosophy believe that if climate change continues at its current projections the loss of life to related disease, food security, water and sanitation will be 500 times greater in Africa than in Europe.