To Maintain Education and Health in UNFCCC Negotiating Text IFMSA POLICY BRIEF FOR PARTIES Climate Change COP 21 2015, Paris France 1. Background IFMSA recognize Climate change as the 21st century's most pressing health issue. Yet in current discussions health is still being treated as a peripheral issue, even though it is overarching. Although it has tremendous impacts on health, this nexus is still poorly reflected in the current UNFCCC Negotiating Text, and the impending decisions in Paris at COP21 make this an issue of great urgency. The impacts of climate change on human health and social well-being are varied. Climate change is already directly changing the distribution of vector-borne diseases, and taking more lives through extreme weathers events. Through food and water insecurity, mass migration, and increased violence and conflict, climate change further threatens health by undermining the social and economic determinants of health.
By adopting the social determinants of health approach, IFMSA members focus on building capacity to strengthen the skills, competencies and abilities of people and communities so they can overcome the various challenges they face. Our experience shows students that they are not merely passive subjects in a rapidly globalizing world, but rather valuable individuals with a potentially powerful role to play in global health. Through capacity building, we can strengthen the skills, competencies and abilities of people and communities so they can overcome the various challenges they face. The emphasis is placed on students returning to their local environments with new ideas and the skills to implement them. 2. Actions As the doctors of tomorrow, we want to ensure the wellbeing of our patients, and ask for a greater inclusion of education on climate (and health) within UNFCCC Negotiating Text. To this end, we call parties to: 2.1. Maintain Article 8 bis Option 1 of the ADP Text: “Parties shall cooperate and take appropriate measures to develop, adopt and implement policies, strategies, regulations and/or action plans on climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information so as to enhance actions under this Agreement.� 2.2. Support the development of educational programs to youth populations on Climate Change and its impacts on human rights that will procure future generations the knowledge and skills to understand and tackle climate change and prevent a global finance burden.
Contact Details Skander Essafi, Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues 2015-16 International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) lph@ifmsa.org | www.ifmsa.org | @ifmsa