Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) outlines five key lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to guide government action on climate change and environmental health. The statement advocates for a shift from risk management to hazard prevention, the application of the precautionary principle in legislation, and an emergency-level response to the climate crisis to protect human health.

• The burning of fossil fuels has severe global and local health impacts, with fine particulate pollution estimated to cause one in five premature deaths globally. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is projected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths annually due to heat stress, malaria, diarrhea, and malnutrition.
• To ensure a healthy recovery and address the climate emergency, the Canadian government should eliminate all subsidies and public financing for the oil and gas sector, ban fossil fuel advertising, phase out fossil fuels immediately, and cancel the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.
• Canada requires an emergency-level response to the climate crisis and toxic exposures, including a target of reducing emissions to 60% below 2005 levels by 2030. This should be supported by a well-funded national climate adaptation strategy and the implementation of a substantial carbon tax and the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
• The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) is considered outdated and inadequate. CAPE calls for the government to introduce a stronger reform bill by early 2022 and pass it by Summer 2022, which should recognize the right to a healthy environment, include mandatory timelines to reduce delays, and expedite the banning of the most harmful substances.
• The government should shift from a risk management paradigm to a hazard prevention paradigm. This includes eliminating thermal coal exports, as coal is identified as the dirtiest fossil fuel with significant health harms globally and in Canada.
• A just transition to net-zero is necessary to protect workers and Indigenous peoples reliant on the fossil fuel economy. This requires Just Transition legislation and the full integration of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action into climate commitments.

APA

McArthur, J. (2021). Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. https://cape.ca/lessons-from-the-pandemic-environmental-health-requires-government-action/

Chicago

McArthur, Jane. Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action. Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, 2021. https://cape.ca/lessons-from-the-pandemic-environmental-health-requires-government-action/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=McArthur |first1=Jane |title=Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action |publisher=Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment |date=26 October 2021 |url=https://cape.ca/lessons-from-the-pandemic-environmental-health-requires-government-action/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{mcarthur2021lessons, author = {McArthur, Jane}, title = {{Lessons from the pandemic: environmental health requires government action}}, publisher = {Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://cape.ca/lessons-from-the-pandemic-environmental-health-requires-government-action/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }