Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-09-Speech-2-341"
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"en.20040309.12.2-341"2
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".
I appreciate that the World Health Organization is now raising awareness as regards climate-change impacts on human health, in a cooperative effort with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization. The Commission can support the general recommendations and conclusions of this World Health Organization report on climate change and human health because, for instance, it focuses on the precautionary principle and the principle of sustainable development. Within the Commission we are taking this carefully into consideration in the formulation of our policies.
The largest benefits of climate policies for human health can be expected from the reduction in the concentrations of ozone and particles. As climate policies in general reduce fossil fuel use, they also reduce related particulate emissions. Additional health benefits can be gained by reducing urban concentrations of NO2 and SO2. Thus, emissions-control strategies that simultaneously address air pollutants and greenhouse gases lead to a more efficient use of resources at all scales, also addressing human health concerns.
The World Health Organization report confirms earlier statements that there are still many knowledge gaps involving likely future patterns of exposure to climatic environmental changes and the vulnerability and adaptability of physical, ecological and social systems as regards such climate change. Therefore, we need better information to establish further the links between the pollutants and health effects, with a view to improving our climate change and health policies.
The action plan on which we are presently working as a follow-up to the environment and health strategy is designed to integrate this information. While the action plan focuses on a set of defined exposures and diseases in its first phase, broader issues, including those related to the health impacts of climate change, can be taken up in future phases. Moreover, the forthcoming thematic strategic on the urban environment, to be adopted by June 2005, and for which an interim communication is presently under discussion within the Commission, should also help local authorities and Member States to improve the environmental performance of cities. This in turn would also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and make cities healthier places to live.
We are also considering some projects under the Sixth Research Framework Programme. Within the activities of scientific support to policies of the Sixth Framework Programme, research is also funded on the physical and chemical processes of air pollutants, in particular on particulate matter at the urban to regional scales, in view of their impact on human health. Under the last Research Framework Programme, the cCASHh project – Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies for Human Health in Europe – was funded to assess the health impacts of climate change."@en1
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