Climate change threatens to undo decades worth of global health gains but the health community can help to stop this

A guest opinion piece by Deirdre Duff of MedAct arguing that the fossil fuel industry is a primary obstacle to climate progress and that the UK health community, as highly trusted professionals, can help break this power through fossil fuel divestment.

• The Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change warned in 2015 that climate change could reverse fifty years of progress in global health and development, disproportionately affecting those least responsible for the problem.
• The fossil fuel industry actively obstructs climate action through lobbying and financial influence, despite some companies publicly claiming to support the Paris Climate Agreement. For example, Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil spend roughly $50 million annually on lobbying against climate action.
• Fossil fuel influence has extended to government diplomacy and international negotiations. In November 2017, a UK trade minister lobbied the Brazilian government to secure tax reliefs and address environmental regulation concerns for Shell and BP. Additionally, a 2017 Corporate Accountability report found that fossil fuel companies use their access to UNFCCC talks to stifle ambition and block financing for real solutions.
• Divestment is presented as a strategy to remove the 'social license' of the fossil fuel industry by stigmatizing it, similar to how the health community's role in the tobacco divestment movement led to stronger anti-tobacco legislation.
• UK health professionals are uniquely positioned to lead divestment efforts because they are highly trusted; a 2017 Ipsos Mori 'Veracity Index' poll ranked nurses and doctors as the most trusted professionals in the UK. Divestment by UK health institutes, such as Royal Colleges, could pressure other UK investors and create global ripple effects due to the international influence of the UK financial industry.

APA

Duff, D. (2019). Climate change threatens to undo decades worth of global health gains but the health community can help to stop this. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/blog/climate-change-threatens-to-undo-decades-worth-of-global-health-gains-but-the-health-community-can-help-to-stop-this/

Chicago

Duff, Diedre. Climate change threatens to undo decades worth of global health gains but the health community can help to stop this. Global Climate and Health Alliance, 2019. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/blog/climate-change-threatens-to-undo-decades-worth-of-global-health-gains-but-the-health-community-can-help-to-stop-this/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Duff |first1=Diedre |title=Climate change threatens to undo decades worth of global health gains but the health community can help to stop this |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |date=5 July 2019 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/blog/climate-change-threatens-to-undo-decades-worth-of-global-health-gains-but-the-health-community-can-help-to-stop-this/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{duff2019climate, author = {Duff, Diedre}, title = {{Climate change threatens to undo decades worth of global health gains but the health community can help to stop this}}, publisher = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/blog/climate-change-threatens-to-undo-decades-worth-of-global-health-gains-but-the-health-community-can-help-to-stop-this/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }