World Health Day, 7th April 2022. How cities are tackling climate related illnesses.

Despite many world governments, including the UK, relaxing & in some cases abandoning Covid19 restrictions all together; the pandemic is active & until the World Health Organisation (WHO) declare it at an end, it will continue to be active.

The global pandemic continues to highlight the inadequate coping mechanisms we have as a species to deal with increases in disease, cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease & in particular the impact the climate crisis continues to have in a global context.

World Health Day highlights the need for humans to create societies focused on wellbeing. The global economic impact of the Covid19 pandemic may not be seen by some as the best time to focus on health, as economies are more important.

However, taking the UK as an example, the Covid19 pandemic has not only seen a seismic shift in the working patterns of UK employees, but since the restrictions have all been lifted, there has been a vast increase in employee absence due to illness & a lot of companies not able to re-employ employees after redundancies during the pandemic.

Therefore, the challenges facing employers are twofold; the need to retain staffing levels & the need to focus on the physical & mental wellbeing of their employees.

The Covid19 pandemic is only a small part of some of the global issues facing human being’s wellbeing. The WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. This includes the climate crisis which is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. The climate crisis is also a health crisis. (1)

With an estimated 55% of the world’s population – 4.2 billion inhabitants living in cities there is an ever-growing need for cities to clean up their air, with polluted air quality being cited as a contributor to premature deaths globally.

As of 2016, 90% of urban dwellers had been breathing unsafe air with more than half of the global urban population being exposed to air pollution levels at least 2.5 times higher than the safety standard. (2)

To begin to offset the pollutants, many cities have already developed electrification/hydrogen for buses, taxis & inner city vehicles, ULEZ’s (UK) & in some cases & in some cities, cars & combustion engine vehicles have been banned all together.

Removing the key contributors to inner city pollutants is not a new thing. Oslo banned cars from the city in 2019, Copenhagen – home to the largest car free zone in Europe – began removing cars from the city centre in the 1960’s & Madrid slowly removed all cars, except for residents’ vehicles during 2019.

In the UK, the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) has, under Mayor Sadiq Khan’s leadership, been extended further & further to remove polluting vehicles from the centre of London.

With a clear message that the Mayor wants all diesel vehicles & those who do not adhere to the ULEZ expectations to be banned from the City by 2037; Sadiq Khan’s mission for a cleaner London is expanding fast.

More ULEZ’s have been introduced across the UK, with Glasgow, Bath, Birmingham, Manchester & Portsmouth already introducing low emission zones in an attempt to combat inner city pollution.

One of the other important changes in inner cities is the development of green spaces. The need to offset the affects of climate change are evident in such projects as rewilding & afforestation. With cityscapes not necessarily allowing these projects, many have taken to rooftops to increase green spaces & in doing so, help to improve air quality.

As part of the Urban Greening strategy set out by the Mayor of London, the greening of London’s streets, buildings & other public spaces, does more than change the look of these places. Roofs & walls covered in plants, street trees & small pocket parks in between buildings make the city a better place to live, work & invest. These green features act as part of London’s green infrastructure network to help clean the air, reduce the risk of flooding & keep the city cool. (3)

With an ever growing need to offset the pollutants in inner cities & mitigate their affect on human health; cities around the world are focussing more & more on reducing tailpipe emissions from cars/trucks & introducing green spaces/vertical & rooftop gardens to try & combat the effects of climate change on their inhabitants.

Written & cited by Katy-Jane for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd.