HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL TREATY TO PROTECT LIVES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

A coalition of health professionals, including the World Health Organization, advocates for a global Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and phase out existing production. The statement argues that burning fossil fuels causes millions of premature deaths via air pollution and drives a climate crisis that threatens healthcare systems, food security, and mental health. It emphasizes that these health burdens disproportionately affect the Global South, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities, and calls for a just transition supported by high-income countries.

• The proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty would be a legally binding international agreement focused on three main goals: immediately ending the expansion of new fossil fuel infrastructure and production, phasing out existing production and use in line with the 1.5C goal, and ensuring a just transition for workers and communities that respects Indigenous rights.
• Burning fossil fuels is linked to severe health crises, including over seven million premature deaths annually from air pollution, which contributes to cancers, respiratory conditions, and cardiovascular disease. Phasing out fossil fuels is estimated to prevent 3.6 million deaths from ambient air pollution worldwide every year.
• The document identifies diverse health risks across the entire fossil fuel lifecycle, including respiratory ailments and poor birth outcomes for those near oil and gas extraction, lung disease and cancers for those near coal mines, and childhood asthma and hematological malignancies for those near petrochemical refineries.
• Climate change driven by fossil fuels creates systemic health threats, such as increasing the transmission of vector-borne, food-borne, and water-borne diseases, exacerbating mental health issues like anxiety and depression in youth, and disrupting medical supply chains and healthcare facilities through extreme weather.
• Health impacts are unequally distributed, falling most heavily on populations in the Global South, Indigenous peoples, and those experiencing poverty or racial discrimination, despite these groups being the least historically responsible for emissions.

APA

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative (n.d.). HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL TREATY TO PROTECT LIVES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/health-letter

Chicago

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL TREATY TO PROTECT LIVES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. n.d. https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/health-letter.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative |title=HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL TREATY TO PROTECT LIVES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS |url=https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/health-letter |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fossilfuelnonproliferationtreatyinitiativendhealth, author = {{Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative}}, title = {{HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, INCLUDING THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, CALL FOR FOSSIL FUEL TREATY TO PROTECT LIVES OF CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS}}, publisher = {Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative}, url = {https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/health-letter}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }