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WHO-backed commission urges climate emergency declaration

European former leaders and health officials call for climate change to be treated as a security and public health crisis.

A coal-fired power plant emits water vapor, fly ash and pollutants near a Hindu temple along Koradi Mandir Road about 15 kilometers from Nagpur, the largest and most populated city in central India. (Harshit Suryawanshi/Unsplash)

GENEVA (AN) — A high-level commission convened by the World Health Organization’s Europe office called on WHO to formally declare climate change a "public health emergency of international concern," arguing that escalating climate impacts pose systemic risks to health, security and economic stability.

The recommendation, published on Sunday in a "Call to Action" report by the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health, would significantly expand efforts to frame climate change not only as an environmental issue but as a transboundary health and governance emergency requiring coordinated international action.

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