Abstract
Joint editorial calling for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health.
Highlights
The UN General Assembly in September 2021 will bring countries together at a critical time for marshalling collective action to tackle the global environmental crisis
Health is already being harmed by global temperature increases and the destruction of the natural world, a state of affairs health professionals have been bringing attention to for decades [1]
Reflecting the severity of the moment, this editorial appears in health journals across the world
Summary
Many governments, financial institutions, and businesses are setting targets to reach net-zero emissions, including targets for 2030. Current strategies for reducing emissions to net zero by the middle of the century implausibly assume that the world will acquire great capabilities to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere [14, 15] This insufficient action means that temperature increases are likely to be well in excess of 2°C [16], a catastrophic outcome for health and environmental stability. Similar targets and emergency action are needed for biodiversity loss and the wider destruction of the natural world To achieve these targets, governments must make fundamental changes to how our societies and economies are organised and how we live. The changes cannot be achieved through a return to damaging austerity policies or the continuation of the large inequalities of wealth and power within and between countries
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