Opening Remarks by Commissioner Stella Kyriakides at the Green Agenda Cyprus Summit

Climate Change, a European Health Union Priority

Honourable Ministers,

Distinguished guests,

The climate crisis and the growing threat it poses to our health is one of the most pressing challenges humanity is facing. Last year was the hottest on record.

Europe is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world.

The numbers speak for themselves: In 2022, Europe lost over 60,000 lives to devastating heatwaves.

These are not just numbers, but have faces, families, stories.

Just last week, the European Environment Agency confirmed its impact on people in Europe:

One in eight Europeans lives in areas potentially prone to river floods and around 30% of people in southern Europe face permanent water stress.

Climate change will only increase the exposure of people to weather extremes, floods, droughts, and water scarcity with serious health consequences.

So, thank you for the opportunity to discuss this new global health challenge here today and joining the global effort.

Dear friends,

In Cyprus, we know this problem too well.

The University of Cyprus last week delivered research through Horizon Europe confirming the serious health impacts of droughts. Exposure to heat causes a whole range of adverse health effects, including heat stress, dehydration, sleep disturbances, hypertension, mental stress, especially among vulnerable groups of the population.

It is therefore no exaggeration to say the time to take action is now.

We have no time to lose, so conferences such as this, bringing all together, helps us raise awareness about a topic that many have not yet realised that this is affecting each and everyone of us.

We each have a role to play.

The World Health Organisation expects that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause 250,000 more deaths worldwide per year. Air pollution causes the premature death of 300,000 people each year in our Union alone.

Cyprus is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

We have seen landscapes change drastically in recent years affected by droughts.

You may ask: Are people aware of these threats?

The answer is a resounding yes.

In a Eurobarometer survey two months ago, a quarter (24%) of EU citizens identified climate change as the most important issue for the future of Europe.

We know we have a collective duty to protect people's health from the climate threat.

What have we, as EU been doing about it?

We already have delivered numerous actions through the European Green Deal, which is the compass that guides our work in this area.

But we must continue.

Part of this process is building climate resilience.

We need to identify the risks, improve our preparedness, and fine-tune policies, otherwise we will pay the costs of the damage later.

Many do not realise how health and the climate crisis are inextricably linked.

Extreme weather events – hurricanes, heatwaves, floods, and droughts, cause death and injury.

Air pollution causes respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis, as well as cardiovascular problems – this being the single largest environmental health risk in Europe.

Rising temperatures and changing environmental and climatic conditions – like rainfall patterns – mean more pathogens and vector- water- and food-borne diseases.

Vector-borne diseases, like dengue, zika and yellow fever are a particular risk.

Climate change affects the availability and quality of food and water – which can lead to major health issues.

And while it may not be as visible, the climate crisis and climate-related disasters do cause anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.

As always, in the area of health, we must be extra attentive to the most vulnerable areas, sectors and people.

Women and low-income people are affected the most and we must therefore do our outmost to protect them through inclusive actions.

I'm glad to see that health is identified as a main vulnerable sector in Cyprus' national climate adaptation plan.

We need to make our health systems more sustainable in order to mitigate climate change, as the the health sector is one of the mostpolluting sectors, responsible for more than 5%of net global emissions.

In essence, health systems need to in parallel reduce their greenhouse gas footprint, while managing an increasing demand for healthcare.

EU instruments are there to support Member States as they make this transition.

EU pandemic recovery funding is supporting several Member States as they:

• improve the energy efficiency of healthcare facilities, and
• invest in clean mobility solutions, like electric vehicles for healthcare services.

Cyprus is one of these Member States.

More than €45 million under the Cypriot Recovery and Resilience plan will help upgrade Cyprus' state hospitals and make them more energy efficient.

But there are other ways we can reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare.

We need to focus more on disease prevention, shifting more activity to primary care settings and making more use of telemedicine.

Prevention is always possibly one of the biggest challenges in the area of health.

It's much more attractive to open a new hospital facility than invest in prevention whose real results we will see many years later.

But ultimately, it is what we need in health care.

Dear Friends,

The way we approach this challenge is very important.

Primarily, we need to recognise that the health of people, animals and plants are closely interlinked.

We've had some stark reminders of this recently, like the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in antimicrobial resistance.

I was recently at a global meeting in London on AMR, which is considered to be one of the biggest public health challenges, where we lose thousands of lives and it is to be the topic of a high level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in NY in September.

AMR called the silent pandemic.

Losing lives because we have pathogens resistant to the available antibiotics. Because we have not recognised the connectivity between plant animal human health and the environment.

The vast majority of the current and emerging communicable human diseases come from reservoirs in animals.

Climate change and loss of natural habitats exacerbate these spillovers from animals to humans.

These close links mean we need an integrated across all policies approach.

This is what is now known as One Health.

One Health needs to be part of all our health policies.

It's about protecting the health of humans, animals, plants and their shared environment, by integrating these fields, rather than treating them separately.

One Health is not a new concept, but recent crises have put it in the spotlight.

It is catching on globally, and has now been defined legally and internationally, which gives it even more weight.

At COP28 last year, for the first time ever, a Declaration on climate and health was adopted by 148 countries, including Cyprus and the EU as a whole.

It acknowledges that there are health benefits from stronger climate action.

It recognises the need to decarbonise the health sector and its supply chains.

To improve climate resilience, but also to adapt infrastructure so that it can cope with climate change.

That's why it is so important and we are working together making the most of international platforms like the World Health Organisation, the G7 and the G20.

Dear Friends,

Will it be challenging to put One Health into action?

Yes, as it means changing the way we think about policymaking, research, funding and working practices across sectors and disciplines.

But it is the only way we can address these interconnected challenges.

Today, the EU is leading the way against climate-related health threats.

We set up the European Climate and Health Observatory in 2021.

And in October 2022, we adopted a new law on serious cross-border threats.

It covers not only infectious diseases, but environmental, food-borne or chemical health threats.

The new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority – HERA, which we established during the pandemic – is investing 120 million euros in making medical countermeasures for vector-borne diseases better available.

We are also leading the way through pilot programs, like our excellent collaboration projects we have with Cyprus on mosquito-borne disease control.

HERA is one the pillars of the new European Health Union we are building, a total paradigm shift in the way we see health at EU level and which I will be presenting on Wednesday.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises are complex, and the path ahead is not straightforward.

Especially in our complex geopolitical environment.

Some experts say that this is the Age of Pandemics.

Climate change we know is only exacerbating and accelerating the risks for health.

The time to act is now to protect people, with a One Health approach across our work.

Join forces and join up our work across this One Health spectrum.

And I would like to finish quoting Sir David Attenborough: “If working apart we are a force powerful to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it. In my lifetime I've witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery.”

That is what we have a duty to secure, not only for us and our children, but also for the generations to come.

Thank you