Statement on energy and health
Ms Susanne Weber-Mosdorf, Assistant Director General,
Sustainable Development and Healthy Environment
World Health Organization
Mr Chairman, distinguished delegates,
I would like to highlight the health impact and health choices of energy on
behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Every year, the pollution from burning biomass fuels and coal indoors is
responsible for 1.5 million deaths. As we are meeting here today, 4000
persons, in particular, women and children, are dying from indoor air pollution.
These are the results of a new WHO report, entitled ?Fuel for life: household
energy and health?, which was launched at the CSD-14 last week.
Energy is essential to health, development and livelihoods - whether used
inside the home, for cooking and heating, or in settlements and cities . Yet,
both energy production and energy use can be harmful to health.
Energy production contributes to pollution in our living environment. Every
year, exposure to fine particles in cities around the world is responsible for
800 000 deaths.
Yet, the impacts of energy consumption at the household level are even more
staggering: More than half of the world?s population still rely on biomass fuels
and coal to meet their most basic needs. We need to also stress this side of
using biomass fuels.
The World Health Organization would like to call on delegates and the CSD to
consider the following points:
§ Health is a winning argument: In industrialized countries, health has been
driving the environment agenda, lowering outdoor air pollution levels in
cities. Let us use health concerns to improve air quality in the homes of the
poor.
§ Health and productivity gains make cleaner energy investments worthwhile:
The above mentioned WHO report shows that reducing energy poverty
generates real economic benefits. (Globally, the analysis shows a payback
of 91 billion USD a year from the 13 billion USD a year invested to halve
the number of people cooking with solid fuels.)
§ As a conclusion, health can and must be part of the solution: It is not
sufficient to simply use health as an argument; health must also be one of
the key parameters to develop and implement appropriate interventions
and policies towards a more equal access to energy.
Thank you.
