EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 PROGRAMME FACT SHEETS

	Climate Change and Human Health
	Responsible Organization(s)	World Health Organization, in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.
	Description	An assessment undertaken with the assistance of a 12-person Task Group of the public health implications of global climate change. The assessment was undertaken from 1993 to 1996. There was continuous consultation and coordination with the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose climate scenarios served as a basis for the projections.
	Issues addressed	The work was very much concerned with the issue of sustainable development under the potential stresses of climate change and other global environmental changes. Particular issues in this respect were: loss of agricultural productivity and increasing hunger, loss of land for human settlements and economic activity due to sea level rise and increased natural disaster hazards, increasing threats of emerging and resurgent infectious disease and the heavy burden of surveillance and preparedness. The recommendations call for the further development of sustainability modalities for health in a changing global environment.
	Objectives	To provide a better understanding of the public health implications of climate change and to disseminate the findings widely.
	Results achieved	the preparation of Chapter 18, Human Population Health, in WGII's contribution to the second assessment report of IPCC, 1996. a 300 page monograph, Climate Change and Human Health, published by WHO in July 1996 (document WHO/EHG/96.7). a plan for further collaboration with WMO, UNEP and, hopefully FAO, entitled An Interagency Network on Climate and Health, being submitted to the donor community for funding.
	Lessons learned	the relative coarse resolution of current climate change models prevents precise projections at the country level. the modeling of indirect health effects of climate change has made great strides but is still in its infancy. the complex ecological shifts that may be caused by climate change are extremely difficult to assess with current methods, but may ultimately be the most crucial for human health, or even survival.
	Financing	The Dutch government (Development Cooperation, Health, Environment Ministries), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), IPCC, WMO, UNEP, WHO.
	Contact	Dr. T. Kjellstrom, Director EHG, WHO, Geneva CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland Dr. R. Slooff, Consultant, EHG, WHO, Geneva CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland