Climate-driven pandemics could not only cause sickness and death akin to the 40 million lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses in the ongoing HIV pandemic, one of the worst in history, or the estimated 24.2 million-and-counting excess deaths from COVID-19; they could also stall global efforts to reduce poverty, advance development, and improve health for all. A United Nations meeting in September must set the foundation for a global pandemic response declaration that is fit for the future.
Catastrophic climate events have been making headlines more than usual in the past month. Antarctic sea ice levels have reached record lows, states in northern India experienced deadly flooding as a result of the wettest July day in decades, and July as a whole has already marked the 10 hottest days ever recorded.
There’s a metaphor to be made about these calamities being the tip of the iceberg, but that proverbial iceberg is melting. And the worst is still likely yet to come as the accelerating climate crisis threatens to unleash not just floodwaters, but pandemics.
About the author
Mandeep Dhaliwal
Mandeep Dhaliwal is the director of UNDP’s HIV and health group, Bureau of Policy and Program Support. Dhaliwal brings to the organization over 25 years of experience working on HIV, health, human rights, and evidence-based policy and programming in low- and middle-income countries. She joined UNDP in 2008 and was the architect of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.
