Climate Action 2017-2018
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WELCOME<br />
WELCOME<br />
Erik Solheim<br />
UN Environment Executive Director<br />
and Under-Secretary-General of the<br />
United Nations<br />
The Paris Agreement on <strong>Climate</strong><br />
Change is a clear sign that nations<br />
can put their differences to one side<br />
and work together for the future benefit<br />
of people and planet. However, it is clear<br />
we need to do more and we need to do it<br />
faster; much faster. This edition of <strong>Climate</strong><br />
<strong>Action</strong> shares thoughts from governments,<br />
businesses and academics on policies that<br />
can help make that happen, notably through<br />
the transition to a global green economy.<br />
Around the world, the media is full of<br />
headlines and dramatic images of extreme<br />
weather events, which are becoming<br />
more frequent and more serious. It’s<br />
a reminder that climate change is not<br />
something that will happen in the future; it<br />
is happening now. The human, economic<br />
and environmental cost is mounting fast.<br />
But another, closely connected tragedy<br />
is very quietly and steadily unfolding in<br />
the background, costing millions of lives<br />
and trillions of dollars. The same dirty<br />
transport, energy, refrigeration and waste<br />
that are pumping out greenhouse gas<br />
emissions around the planet, are pumping<br />
out pollution around its people.<br />
Take air pollution, which kills up to<br />
seven million people a year. In India, it<br />
is causing a significant rise in strokes,<br />
with women who breathe smoke from<br />
household cooking facing a 40 per cent<br />
higher risk. And, while strokes used to<br />
be considered a disease for the elderly,<br />
doctors like Praveen Gupta have seen<br />
the number of young stroke patients<br />
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