Nigerian In Diaspora, Dr. Francis I. Ayomoh Advocates Synergy To End Impacts Of Climate Change

By Toffa Momoh, Abuja

The President, Oxford Global Health Society, a Nigerian in the diaspora, Dr. Francis Ayomoh, has called for collaborative efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change on global public health.

The learned medical practitioner said the rapidly warming climate is the greatest threat to global public health, urging world leaders to cut heat-trapping emissions to avoid catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse.

The health expert made the call on Monday, during the Oxford Global Health Society Annual Conference 2024, which was monitored virtually by our correspondent.

According to the renowned health expert, the conference focused on the intersection of climate change and health as climate change poses a significant threat to public health, impacting everything from extreme weather events to infectious disease patterns and air quality.

Dr. Ayomoh, who stated that the conference aimed to inspire, educate, and empower participants to advocate for climate-resilient health systems and a healthier, more sustainable future, further charged relevant stakeholders in the global communities to escalate more useful information about climate change.

According to Dr. Ayomoh, “warming beyond 1.5 degrees could have irreversible and irreparable consequences. However, effective and equitable adaptation and mitigation actions can significantly reduce vulnerability and contribute to climate resilience. To limit global warming to well below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels, countries came together to hold themselves accountable under the Paris Agreement. The agreement is a milestone of international cooperation to tackle climate change – first legally binding document in the history of climate action.”

He stated: “To move fast in the race against climate crisis, targeted actions that bring tangible benefits and limit the trade-offs on multiple fronts, are key for common success against climate change.”

One of the penelist, Professor Lucie Cluver, Professor of Child and Family Social Work, said the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world’s plan of action to achieving sustainability and resilience for people and planet, are closely linked with climate. Maximizing on the interlinkages between the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement by leveraging Climate and SDG Synergies, has the potential of achieving both agendas and guaranteeing a livable future for next generations by leaving no one behind. In fact, progress made towards limiting global temperature increase would significantly ease the path to many other SDGs, such as those related to poverty, hunger, access to water, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Many of the SDGs and their targets can also be achieved in ways that would enable adaptive responses to climate change, for example those related to resilience in SDGs 9 and 11, respectively relating to infrastructure and urban settlements.

The theme for the Oxford Global Health Society Annual Conference 2024 is: ‘Climate Change And Health; Building Health System Resilience for the Impacts of Climate Change.