Dubai: The impact of climate change on health was put under the microscope during a two-day workshop organised by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE).
The stakeholder workshop on climate change adaptation in the health sector at its headquarters in Dubai Academic City hosted more than 100 stakeholders representing health authorities and related organisations.
The workshop was organised as part of the implementation of the National Climate Change Plan, which was approved by the UAE Cabinet in June 2017. One of the three pillars of the climate plan is dedicated to climate change adaptation, which aims at better preparation for and building resilience to the potential local impacts caused by global climate change.
Dr Helen Brown, director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health Impact Assessment, based in Curtin University, Western Australia, provided an overview of linkages between climate change and public health, reviewed the sectoral risk assessment, and facilitated the discussion with stakeholders.
The ministry’s Climate Change Department is currently working with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) on the assessment of climate risks to the four key sectors most important to the country’s sustainable, climate-resilient future — health, energy, infrastructure, and the environment. The team focused on the health sector in the first phase of this assessment, conducted a survey and interviews with key health authorities, and compiled their understanding on climate change adaptation and existing measures and capability.
The collected information was analysed according to an original risk-assessment framework elaborated from international best practices. In the opening remarks, Fahd Mohammad Al Hammadi, acting assistant undersecretary for Green Development and Climate Change at the ministry, noted: “Climate change adaptation aims to ensure that the impacts of climate change will not hamper our development efforts while transforming the risks into opportunities towards a more climate-resilient and sustainable future.”
