Editorial: Wealthy nations need to do more

Today medical, as part of an initiative coordinated by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change nursing and public health journals across the world have simultaneously published an editorial calling for world leaders to take emergency action to transform societies and limit climate change, restore biodiversity, and protect health.

An editorial published in over 220 leading journals calling on world leaders to take emergency action to transform societies and limit climate change, restore biodiversity and protect health.

Publishing journals include The Lancet, the East African Medical Journal, the Chinese Science Bulletin, the New England Journal of Medicine, the International Nursing Review, the National Medical Journal of India, The British Medical Journal, the Revista de Saúde Pública (Brazil), and the Medical Journal of Australia.

The risks posed by climate change could dwarf those of any single disease. The COVID-19 pandemic will end, but there is no vaccine for the climate crisis. The IPCC report shows that every fraction of a degree hotter endangers our health and future. Similarly, every action taken to limit emissions and warming brings us closer to a healthier and safer future.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization

Cover image produced by NOAA, and shared under license CC BY 2.0.