Abstract

The 2020 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change

Highlights

  • Climate change threatens the health and wellbeing of populations in every country.[1]

  • These changes have been rapid, more shifts of a greater size are necessary to enact a response that is of the scale required to fulfil China’s carbon neutrality by 2060 pledge and to minimise the rising health burdens of climate change, both in China and around the world

  • Moving forward, the development of national and international COVID-19 stimulus packages should align with the goals and principles of both the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to ensure a sustainable recovery

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Summary

Executive summary

Climate change poses a catastrophic risk to human health, requiring an urgent and concerted response from every country. Older people (>65 years old), who face a 10·4% higher risk of dying during a heatwave, endured an average of 13 more heatwave days in 2019 compared with the 1986–2005 baseline For outdoor workers, their potential heat-related labour productivity loss reached 0·5% of total national work hours, costing 1% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent to its annual fiscal expenditure on science and technology. These changes have been rapid, more shifts of a greater size are necessary to enact a response that is of the scale required to fulfil China’s carbon neutrality by 2060 pledge and to minimise the rising health burdens of climate change, both in China and around the world. The longer-term prospects for lives, livelihoods, and a sustainable economy will be put in jeopardy if these interventions do not prioritise climate change

Introduction
Conclusion
Section 3: mitigation actions and health co-benefits
Section 4: economics and finance
Section 5: public and political engagement
Findings

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