Currently, 124 countries find themselves signatory to the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health. While the US and Bharat found themselves standing among the top emitters of greenhouse gas, they are, however, absent from the list of signatories.
Additionally, there was recorded evidence of environmental activists holding a demonstration at the COP28 UN Climate Summit.
Bharat, on December 3, refrained from signing the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, while pointing out that curbing the greenhouse gas use for cooling in the health sector, which is one of the points proposed in the document, may not be practical or achievable within the country’s healthcare infrastructure in the short term.
The declaration calls for climate action to achieve “benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including from just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets”.
On the occasion of the first Health Day at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) on December 3, the declaration expressed grave concern about the negative impacts of climate change on global health.
The declaration looks at addressing the critical intersection between climate change and global health and emphasizes on the need for swift and substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
However, a sticking point emerged as the draft outlined a commitment to reducing greenhouse gasses for cooling applications within healthcare infrastructure — a measure Bharat finds difficult to comply with, sources remarked.
Source: Mid.day
