Climate change is an urgent threat to pregnant women and children

UN agencies have issued a Call for Action today, highlighting the severe health risks posed by climate change to pregnant women, babies, and children. This call comes ahead of the global Conference of the Parties (COP28) negotiations on climate change in Dubai.

The document, titled “Protecting maternal, newborn and child health from the impacts of climate change,” points out that the impact of climate events on maternal and child health has been overlooked and underestimated. It also notes that very few countries’ climate change response plans mention maternal or child health, describing this as a significant oversight.

Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director General for Universal Health Coverage, Life Course at the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that climate change poses a severe threat to all, but pregnant women, babies, and children face some of the most serious consequences. He emphasized the need for immediate climate action for the sake of their health and survival.

“Action on climate change often ignores that children’s bodies and minds are uniquely vulnerable to pollution, deadly diseases and extreme weather,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Programmes, Omar Abdi. “We do this at our peril. The climate crisis is jeopardizing every child’s fundamental right to health and well-being. It is our collective responsibility to listen and put children at the centre of urgent climate action, beginning at COP28. This is the moment to finally put children on the climate change agenda.”

The year 2023 has seen a series of devastating climate disasters such as wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and droughts, which are displacing people, killing crops and livestock, and worsening air pollution. These events are increasing the spread of deadly diseases like cholera, malaria, and dengue, posing severe risks for pregnant women and children.

The Call to Action outlines seven urgent actions to address these growing risks. These include sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and action on climate finance, along with the specific inclusion of the needs of pregnant women, babies, and children within climate and disaster-related policies. The agencies also call for more research to better understand the impacts of climate change on maternal and child health.

The Call to Action was released by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA at an online launch event, alongside an advocacy brief by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH). The PMNCH advocacy brief reinforces the Call to Action by outlining specific recommendations for different stakeholders for ensuring that the health needs of women, children, and adolescents are better addressed in climate policies, financing, and programs.

"Climate change is a major intergenerational injustice of our times. Safeguarding the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents is non-negotiable in the face of the climate crisis’’, said Rt Hon Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair and former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

"Every stakeholder, from governments to the private sector and civil society, including health care professionals, holds a critical role in championing policies and actions which protect the most vulnerable. The urgency to integrate women, children and adolescent health needs into climate responses is not just a moral imperative, but an effective strategy with long-term benefits for resilient and healthy societies’’.

During the COP28 meetings, delegates will mark the first-ever Day of Health, noting the intractable linkages between the health of people and the planet.

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