Climate Change is a social justice problem, and we must act now

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Climate Change is a social justice problem, and we must act now

4 November 2022

Climate change is a global health emergency

For those of us in more temperate countries, enduring soaring temperatures in summer heatwaves might prove sticky and uncomfortable. But all around the world the health of vulnerable populations is being put at risk because of the effects of climate change.

Despite advances in global health made by science and modern medicine, public health outcomes are being worsened by an increase in diseases and challenges caused by a warming world.

But challenges are rarely totally insurmountable. Solving the climate emergency, and adapting to its effects, both need scientific and technological innovation. We saw, with the Covid-19 pandemic, how strategic deployment of state and private resources, accelerated research, and rapid deployment of vaccines, PPE and treatments saved lives.

Across the global innovation challenge prizes I have worked to design, I’ve seen how the combination of technical innovation and creative flair can generate new and unexpected solutions that change people’s lives.

The health impacts of climate change are serious, but we’re not helpless.

These are big challenges

There are myriad effects of climate change on health, from heat related mortality, increased transmission of infectious diseases, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, to reduced crop yields and food insecurity.

Not to mention the distress and upheaval faced by those hit by floods, storms, droughts and famines.

The relationship between climate change and health is extensive, a single extreme weather event can provoke a multitude of health issues.

Corn stalks with drooping parched dry leaves as the sun begins to set on the horizon

The 2022 Pakistan floods

Thirty-three million people have been affected by the recent floods in Pakistan, described as a ‘Monsoon on steroids’ by the UN Secretary General. The devastating rainfall has been linked to an ongoing heatwave which melted glaciers and caused downpours to fall on a scale never seen before. It cannot be doubted that climate change is the cause.

Not only have the rains tragically caused over 1000 people to drown and devastated thousands of homes, they have also provoked a major health crisis. As floodwater deluges homes, it becomes the perfect breeding ground for a whole host of waterborne infectious diseases – from dysentery to cholera.

Wading through water contaminated with sewage causes painful skin infections and fungal disease. Mosquitos thrive in standing floodwaters, causing an increase in malaria and dengue fever which can be hard to treat at a time when access to healthcare is disrupted. The picture is grim, but the list goes on.

Crops have been destroyed and the roads and infrastructure for transporting food have been damaged, leading to food insecurity and ultimately malnutrition, affecting children and the elderly the most.

Physical health is not the only symptom of climate change, there’s also a correlation with a decline in mental health. While we in the West may suffer from climate anxiety, weather events in developing countries have far harsher consequences, causing increased levels of stress and an increase in suicide rates.

Although Pakistan is responsible for just 0.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of melting glaciers are felt hardest by their rural populations who have often never owned a car or had the luxury of flicking on the aircon.

In the aftermath of the floods, these people will go hungry, and many don’t have access to the simple medicine they need to treat infections.

Climate change has become a social justice issue with far reaching consequences


If we care, we must act

A placard with words handwritten in bold black letters_ IF NOT NOW, WHEN? There is no Planet B

Innovation creates hope for the future

It would be easy to be daunted by the twin challenges of climate change and public health.

On a daily basis I see the ingenuity and creativity of the people bringing forward diverse solutions to great issues through the challenge prizes I am lucky to work on.

Increasingly climate is impacting on medicine.

It keeps me hopeful that if we fast-track innovative ideas, we can mitigate, or even eliminate, some of these devastating climate issues and their health consequences, whether the ideas are simple or complex, low or high tech.

Solving more than one problem at a time


The challenge prizes we run focus on both prevention and cure. We find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world, as well as mitigate the existing effects of climate change.

A view of the city of Bogota

We’re working with UN habitat on the Smart Cities Challenge to help cities around the world transition to carbon neutrality.

Smart Cities Challenge

Photo of countryside punctuated with big three blade wind turbines

We also work on challenges that look at how to create renewable power from existing sources, reducing our society’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Renewable energy challenge

Hand holding a petri dish. Dish is divided into four sections with different growths in each

Our Longitude Prize on AMR sets out to develop a test for bacterial infections and ensure that the right antibiotics are used.

This will help reduce antimicrobial resistance and ensure medicines we rely upon stay effective, even as the world increases in temperature and bacteria grows more quickly.

Longitude Prize on AMR

Four people in a field filled with lush green plants protected from the rain by umbrellas. Three examine a plant, whilst the other raises their phone as if to take a photo to the side or get a better signal.

The Fall Armyworm Tech Prize incentivised innovative solutions to help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa manage and tackle the invasive and crop-destroying pest to ensure communities have food and farmers have incomes.

Climate change is predicted to increase Fall Armyworm outbreaks around the world with knock-on implications for nutrition and rural poverty, two issues that are well-understood to exacerbate health inequalities.

Fall Armyworm Tech Prize

It is clear that the effects of climate change are no longer a far-off dystopian vision, but a frightening reality endangering the lives and livelihoods of those affected around the world.

Malaria vaccine

There is of course much to be celebrated in the progress science has made in recent years.

Just last month the Lancet published details of a trial into a new malaria vaccine which promises to radically reduce rates of the disease in the tropics.

The new malaria vaccine

Mosquito on cotton wool in a test tube

An unfair climate change burden

But for the thousands of displaced people in Pakistan currently suffering from waterborne and parasitic diseases, we have no time to lose in ensuring that we innovate in a way that means we get the best ideas funded, tested and rolled out at scale as soon as humanly possible.

Climate change is impacting the homes, lives and health of vulnerable people who often barely contribute to CO2 emissions. The tragic floods in Pakistan only makes the search for solutions more urgent than ever.

We need a new wave of innovators who can help prevent the climate change crisis from worsening

Giant plume of smoke rising from an industrial landscape

More on climate and health