Ending the fairy tales

The Lancet Global Health The Lancet Global Health

doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(19)30417-6

Abstract

Ending the fairy tales

Highlights

At the UN Climate Summit last month, Greta Thunberg delivered an impassioned speech to world leaders, exhorting them to wake up and face reality: “We are at the beginning of a mass extinction” she said, and “all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth
Impacts on overall mortality are less clear, but studies done mostly in high-income countries have shown that mortality sometimes declines during economic downturns, as occupational and other accidents tend to decrease, reduced manufacturing activity leads to improved air quality, and less time spent at work means more time for healthy activities
In this issue of The Lancet Global Health, Thomas Hone and colleagues present the results of a longitudinal analysis of data from 5565 Brazilian municipalities during the 2014–16 recession, which show that adult mortality increased by 8% in the period around the recession

Summary

Introduction

At the UN Climate Summit last month, Greta Thunberg delivered an impassioned speech to world leaders, exhorting them to wake up and face reality: “We are at the beginning of a mass extinction” she said, and “all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. The main message is that under the pressure of trends that include climate change, “the world is at acute risk for devastating regional or global disease epidemics or pandemics that cause loss of life but upend economies and create social chaos”—and the world is not ready. The ensuing recession could reverberate across economies, reducing productivity and increasing unemployment.

Results

Conclusion