The Deadliest Species on The Planet – And Our Protection Responsibility

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Carlotta Oltmanns, a final-year medical student at the University of Vienna in Austria. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Doesn’t it seem a little like an ironic déjà-vu: a young person writes about the importance and urgency of climate action and intervention for peace. And while the interest in societal and political issues is deemed praiseworthy, our attitude is often labelled as “too idealistic” and “not realistically implementable” due to “lack of experience” – ignorant of the fact that nearly half of the world’s population is aged below 30 and severely underrepresented in most civil decision-making processes. It may be true that youth are often not as influenced by aspects of political diplomacy and dynamics in their demands – not least because structural, meaningful youth engagement in existential global, national and local matters is simply not (yet) a concept in reality.

In this case, however, haven’t we all witnessed the status quo of our planet, been presented predictions and even connections to our own well-being by leading experts [1,2]? Not only have the past years, including 2023 by far, broken all records of meteorological indicators, such as temperature or sea level height, but extreme weather events have also strongly added to the exacerbation of existing socio-economic inequities across the globe, including through food insecurity, population displacement, and other disastrous effects, also on healthcare, especially in already vulnerable populations. [1]

Additionally, millions of individuals globally are currently displaced or have been compelled to abandon their homes and communities due to catastrophes, which had been amplified by climate-related hardships and generally multi-causal constellations including conflict and violence. [1] Peace, in contrast, is not only considered an essential element for the survival of humanity [3], but also mentioned as a fundamental human right “liberty and security of person” in Article 3 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights [4] and traditionally classified as a right of humanity along with the right to a healthy environment and sustainable development [3] – with an emphasis on sustainable. 

There is space to act, requiring urgent action: Increased funding towards protection of both the planet (e.g. fossil fuel divestment, renewable energies, and preserving biodiversity) and vulnerable populations (e.g. more comprehensive education, community and healthcare capacity-building to strengthen climate- and conflict-resilience), and most importantly, global commitment to the full implementation of the agreed strategies (e.g. Paris Agreement). Each of us, whether as healthcare professionals or educators and advocates of other professions, should be aware of our key role towards climate mitigation, adaptation, and promotion of peace [5,6].

The message of the report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the State of the Global Climate 2023 is clear: The cost of inaction concerning the climate crisis is much higher than the cost of acting [1] – which did not even include damage to nature and biodiversity, so imagine the impact for any aspect of “one health” added.

The climate crisis has been labelled “the defining challenge that humanity faces” [1]. Let us take personal and professional responsibility to make sure that ours and future generations have a healthy planet to live on. How many more wake-up calls do we need?

References:

[1] State of the Global Climate 2023 [Internet]. Wmo.int. 2024. Available from: https://library.wmo.int/records/item/68835-state-of-the-global-climate-2023 [downloaded on 01.05.2024]

[2] World Health Organization. Climate change and health [Internet]. http://www.who.int. 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health#:~:text=Climate%20change%20affects%20the%20social [downloaded on 01.05.2024]

[3] Iryna Ivankiv. Peace as a Right of Humanity. Springer eBooks. 2020 Jan 1;337–54. [downloaded on 01.05.2024]

[4] United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Internet]. United Nations. United Nations; 1948. Available from: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights [cited on 01.05.2024]

[5] Behera M, Behera D, Satpathy S. Planetary health and the role of community health workers. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 2020;9(7):3183.

[6] Quality of care in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings: taking action [Internet]. http://www.who.int. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015203 [downloaded on 01.05.2024]

About the author

Carlotta Oltmanns is a final-year medical student at the University of Vienna in Austria. She wishes to share her global health, particularly mental health and one health, enthusiasm and act as a passionate advocate for related issues. Besides having actively engaged in local and national IFMSA (AMSA) branches, she has also been part of the IFMSA’s International Team in previous years, and continues to be dedicated to national and international activities linked to her main advocacy areas. She primarily aims to spread awareness as well as a sense of hope and solidarity.