Symposium 17 - Climate Change and Us: Sustainability in Healthcare

Climate change poses profound and multifaceted challenges to environmental health. The World Health Organization has pinpointed that climate change is the biggest thread on population health. Among the most pressing issues are the rising intensity and frequency of heatwaves and the worsening of air pollution-both of which have far-reaching implications for human health. This talk will explore how climate change and natural climate variability influence air quality and thermal extremes, with a focus on their combined and individual effects on human health outcomes. We will examine the global trend of Hot-and-Polluted Episodes (HPE). The interactions between air pollution and heatwaves will also be discussed, including the synergistic effects that amplify health risks, particularly among vulnerable populations. Drawing on recent research and case studies from various regions, including Southeast Asia, this presentation will highlight the need for integrated climate and public health policies to mitigate current impacts and build resilience for the future.

There is overwhelming scientific consensus that the Earth's climate is warming, which is mainly a result of human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. 
Nobody is spared from its effects. Governments around the world are responding to climate change in various ways, with efforts ranging from international agreements and policy frameworks to national-level initiatives and local actions. As this green revolution gains traction, it creates both existing and new job opportunities in traditional 'green' industries such as renewables, waste management and construction. The introduction of new technologies, substances and work processes also creates new jobs in sectors such as sustainability management, carbon trading, recycling, renewable energy, green buildings and so forth. Such developments bring about new occupational health risks and challenges for workers and employers, which, in turn, may require political, administrative, technical, and regulatory approaches to safeguard worker safety and health. Those of us in the medical community should also keep a lookout for any emerging occupational health issues and take timely actions to mitigate their effects. The purpose of my sharing is to provide an overview of the potential occupational health issues we may encounter in the Singapore workforce. 

Due to anthropogenic climate change, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded on Earth and the first calendar year to exceed the 1.5°C warming threshold since industrial revolution. Humanity has likely missed the Paris Agreement target of keeping the global temperature within 1.5 degrees of the pre-industrial level. Latest data projects that this target will be breached as early as 2029. To still achieve the 2.0 degrees target of the Paris Agreement, much greater efforts in reducing carbon emissions, especially phasing out the use of fossil fuel, must be exerted by all countries as a matter of urgency. Even human activities and carbon emissions have temporarily reduced during the COVID pandemic, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to increase unabated, showing the sheer magnitude of the climate actions required. 


Climate change has relentlessly led to more frequent extreme weather around the world, notably the devastating Libyan floods of 2023, the deadly Mediterranean heatwave of 2024, the record-breaking Spanish flash floods in October 2024, and the unprecedented Los Angeles fire this January. In Hong Kong, 2024 saw yet another year with the number of very hot days and hot nights exceeding 50 a year. This number has already been exceeded in consecutive five and six years respectively. Super typhoons Hato of 2017, Mangkhut of 2018 and Saola of 2023, and the "once-in-a-century" rainstorm of September 2023 also remind us that we are not far away from disasters should the "perfect storm" hit Hong Kong next time. 


This presentation will provide the latest climate projections of the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change and their impact on Hong Kong. It will also discuss what actions are urgently needed for Hong Kong to better adapt to climate change and to make our city more resilient to extreme weather. In particular, the speaker will explain why a comprehensive climate risk assessment should be conducted for Hong Kong and how medical practitioners could help.