UNESCO's Declaration of Ethical Principles in Relation to Climate Change: The Issue of Climate and Health Inequalities

Abstract

It is surprising that this Declaration, which “recommends that States consider these ethical principles in all decisions and actions relating to climate change”, makes no mention of the issue of health, despite the fact that, as the WHO points out, “climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health: clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food, secure housing”, which leads the organisation to consider that “climate change is the greatest health threat facing humanity”. However, in relation to these observations by the WHO, the Declaration clearly puts forward two axes that concretise the link between climate change and inequalities in health. These are, firstly, the application of the principles set out in the Declaration to the determinants of health mentioned by the WHO and, secondly, the particular attention that the Declaration pays to vulnerable individuals and groups. It is from the combination of these two approaches that the “policy” that UNESCO seems to be suggesting emerges, albeit indirectly and partially. It is less that of a specific approach to access to health as such than the desire to emphasise both the determinants of health in a situation of climate change and the vulnerability of target populations to the increased health risks caused by climate change. 

However, in relation to these observations by the WHO, the Declaration clearly puts forward two axes that concretise the link between climate change and inequalities in health. These are, firstly, the application of the principles set out in the Declaration to the determinants of health mentioned by the WHO and, secondly, the particular attention that the Declaration pays to vulnerable individuals and groups. It is from the combination of these two approaches that the "policy" that UNESCO seems to be suggesting emerges, albeit indirectly and partially. It is less that of a specific approach to access to health as such than the desire to emphasise both the determinants of health in a situation of climate change and the vulnerability of target populations to the increased health risks caused by climate change.