- Dr Dipendra Raman Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal
- Officials from Ministries of our WHO South East Asia Region Member States
- Delegates from NGOs
- UN and WHO colleagues, partners and friends
A good morning to you all and welcome to this regional meeting on nutrition and climate change.
Climate change has a significant effect on food - on its availability, its quality and its diversity. This is a contributor to global food and nutrition crises.
The relationship between nutrition and climate change is bidirectional. Current food systems also contribute to climate change through the release of greenhouse gases, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and the pollution of air, land, and water.
While there have been significant improvements in global nutrition outcomes over time, climate change is undermining decades of progress. It potentially has the power to increase malnutrition by impacting food availability, access, food safety and utilization.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report concluded that climate risks are occurring faster, and will impact countries sooner, than previously expected. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths globally each year. Regions such as ours, with under resourced health systems, will be disproportionately affected.
Improvements in nutrition in the past two decades have been encouraging, but the existing burden of malnutrition in our South-East Asia Region remain significant. Stunting affects our children, as does being wasted or overweight. Babies are born with low birth weight. Anaemia affects many women of reproductive age. Unhealthy diets have increased the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and thus, premature mortality.
Climate change is likely to undo the progress made to date. Most at risk are vulnerable groups such as pregnant and lactating women and young children and the poor.
COP27 for the first-time placed nutrition at the centre of climate negotiations. I am pleased that WHO is taking the lead to protect health and nutrition from climate change, through advocacy and partnerships, capacity building and evidence monitoring.
As part of the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health, a network that works to realize the goal set at COP26 to build climate resilient and sustainable health systems, WHO also recently established a working group, the Initiative on Climate Change and Nutrition. This uses the combined strength of WHO Member States and other stakeholders to advance this agenda at pace and scale; and promote the integration of climate change and nutrition into respective national, regional, and global plans.
How should our Member States respond to this existential problem?
As early as 2016, the Strategic Action Plan to reduce the burden of malnutrition in our Region, urged countries to ensure policy coherence between climate and nutrition policies.
SEA Regional Plan of Action for the WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment and Climate Change 2020-2030: Healthy Environments for Healthier Population, adopted by the 2019 Regional Committee (RC), clearly outlines various action points of environmental determinants of health for implementation at regional and country level.
Health Ministers of our region at the 70th RC adopted the ‘Male’ Declaration’ which agreed on 10 action points for implementation by our Member States, and four action points for the secretariat.
The Male’ Declaration and the Framework for Action on implementing the Declaration was extended till 2027 during the 2022 RC in Bhutan.
This meeting today supports the implementation of the action points of the declaration, and we look forward accelerating the implementation of the climate and nutrition related programs in the region.
At the country level, it is paramount to ensure a better integration of nutrition considerations in climate change planning processes. So too is an equal consideration of climate change impacts, along with dietary impacts, in nutrition.
However, a review done by SEARO of relevant policies in 2020 shows there has been little realization of such initiatives in Member States.
Multiple opportunities exist for coordinated action to prepare health/nutrition systems to be adaptive to climate change.
We need policy coherence and multisectoral coordination - across sectors such as agriculture, water and sanitation, and social protection with health and nutrition. We need to support good nutrition status in populations by scaling up current evidence based essential nutrition interventions. We need to ensure a healthy and sustainable food environment. Data linking nutrition status with climate related indicators will support early actions when necessary.
Nutrition impacts of climate change are no longer a future problem. They much be addressed now, as an urgent priority.
I hope this meeting will be the initial step for our countries to share experiences and learnings. Most importantly, I hope we will identify actions that result in country level outcomes which urgently address climate change and nutrition in policies and programmes. We have no time to lose.
On that note, I would like to conclude by wishing you a pleasant stay in Nepal, and a productive meeting. I look forward to the recommendations by our member states.
Thank you.