Essay by Eric Worrall
“… Far from being a fading priority or fake news, climate change poses an immediate and long-term threat …”
Declare climate crisis a global public health emergency, experts tell WHO
Anna Bawden Health and social affairs correspondent
Sat 16 May 2026 14.00 AEST…
The climate crisis should be declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization, or millions more people will die unnecessarily, leading international experts have said.
The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, which was convened by the WHO, concluded the climate crisis was such a worldwide threat to health that the WHO should declare it “a public health emergency of international concern” (Pheic).
The international spread of vector-borne disease, such as dengue and chikungunya, as well as the health impacts of extreme weather events, global heating, food insecurity and air pollution make a Pheic necessary, said the commission’s report, which will be presented to European ministers on Sunday before the WHO’s world health assembly starts on Monday.
…
The 11-strong independent commission, which includes former health and climate ministers, said: “Far from being a fading priority or fake news, climate change poses an immediate and long-term threat to health, economic, food, water, environmental, personal, community and national security.”
…
The report also called for measures to tackle disinformation, greater use of national climate health impact assessments, as well as recognition that climate change was also a mental health crisis.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/16/who-should-declare-climate-crisis-global-public-health-emergency-experts-say
…
In my opinion when they have to lead your argument by assuring readers they aren’t fake news, in a news outlet like The Guardian, they’ve already lost.
The WHO also has its own credibility problems. WHO was widely perceived as stooging for China during the early days of the Covid pandemic.
I don’t think declaring a fake climate emergency, “far from being … fake news”, would do anything to restore the WHO’s lost credibility.
