The climate crisis is also a public health crisis. From air pollution to flooding, extreme heat to drought, climate change is directly impacting our lives in increasingly severe ways. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 14 million people die each year from environmental health risks, including eight million people from air pollution alone. Heat-related deaths are also increasing, with heat waves causing a rise in hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory illnesses.
Even more sobering is the recent evidence showing that the climate crisis disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable members of our communities, including young people. The recent UNICEF Child Climate Risk Index found that more than 1 billion children — nearly half of the world’s population under the age of 14 — are exposed to extreme climate risk.
Our collective responsibility to turn the tide and secure a sustainable future requires action now … We must all play a role in furthering the climate agenda and protecting the physical and mental health of young people.
—The health impact of the climate crisis is not just a physical one — it is taking a toll on mental health as well. A newly released study of more than 10,000 young people aged 16 to 25 across 10 countries, conducted by the University of Bath, found that 75% of respondents believe that the “future is frightening.” Some 58% of the young people surveyed said governments were “betraying me and/or future generations” and 64% said their governments are not doing enough to avoid a climate catastrophe.
A new word has even entered our vocabulary: “eco-anxiety,” which is used to describe worries about the environment. Young people are concerned that their future may not be secure, and they are calling for urgent action.
Bringing young voices to the center of the debate
As global leaders convene in Glasgow this week for COP 26, it’s critical that the voices of young people are not only heard but more importantly brought front and center of discussions on the future health of our planet. The engagement of young activists, schoolchildren, students, young scientists, and many more is vital. Their planet, and the planet of future generations, has been harmed by a lack of sustainable investment into tackling the effects of climate change over the past decades and they need to be part of the solution.
Through AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme, we are privileged to work with inspiring young people globally who are powerful and persuasive advocates for policy change around improved youth health. These include YHP One Young World Scholars, UNICEF Young Leaders, recipients of Step Up! global grants, and our network of young peer educators.
These groups are harnessing youth-led innovation, including identifying, promoting, and connecting the world’s most impactful young leaders with more responsible, inclusive, and effective leadership.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated a multigenerational impact on human health and the impact of the climate crisis will be no different — it will affect us all.
A healthy planet starts with each of us
In conjunction with COP 26, Juliette spoke with Jordan Abdi, a One Young World scholar, and Sophie Daud, CEO at Future Leaders Network, about how the climate crisis is impacting the health and well-being of young people and what we need to do to address it. Listen to their conversation.
Our collective responsibility to turn the tide and secure a sustainable future requires action now. At the individual, community, corporate, and governmental level, we must all play a role in furthering the climate agenda and protecting the physical and mental health of young people. Creating equity of voice to identify and deliver solutions is central to this.
At AstraZeneca we are taking bold action to address the climate crisis. We’re doing this because we recognize the strong connection between a healthy planet and its people. Through our Ambition Zero Carbon program, we are committing at least $1 billion to achieve zero carbon emissions across our operations by 2025 and be carbon-negative across our value chain by 2030.
This includes using 100% renewable energy for both power and heat to develop and deliver medicines and switching to a 100% electric vehicle fleet for our over 17,000 vehicles, as well as planting 50 million trees through our AZ Forest initiative, in partnership with local governments and One Tree Planted.
We are also taking a more circular approach to how we make medicines, with a focus on eliminating waste and pollution while recycling and reusing materials and investing in nature-based solutions.
We also acknowledge the health care sector needs to do more, with the industry as a whole contributing to over 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We need to deliver care that protects and improves public health — and with it the effective functioning of society and economies — while lowering our environmental footprint.
As a founding member of the Sustainable Markets Initiative led by HRH The Prince of Wales, AstraZeneca is working with leaders from industry, multilateral organizations, health care systems, and academia to help accelerate the delivery of net-zero health care. However, it is only by ensuring that young people are given a platform to contribute to such multistakeholder dialogues that real change can be affected.
About the author
Juliette White
Juliette White is vice president global sustainability and safety, health, and environment at AstraZeneca. She has worked at the multinational biopharmaceutical company for over 30 years. In her role, Juliette has accountability for AstraZeneca’s flagship Ambition Carbon Zero program, and in addition, provides leadership to the company’s U.K. leadership team.
