Global warming may gravely affect human health

Friday, August 23, 2019

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Global warming may gravely affect human health, Alexei Kokorin, head of the climatic program of the World Wildlife Fund, told the press conference on Wednesday. He recalled that on October 22 the State Duma ratified the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Russia signed the Convention in 1997 and its Federation Council ratified the Kyoto Protocol on October 27. According to Mr. Kokorin, during discussion of the Protocol's ratification in the State Duma and the Federation Council, the issue of climate change effects on human health was not raised. Due to the climate change, the incidence of malaria and encephalitis diseases borne by ticks is growing in the world and Russia, Mr. Kokorin said. Effects of the climate change vary. In Russia they are relatively insignificant but very pronounced. The death rate of the population increases as the temperature rises. Secondary effects are also important - the incidence of 'Southern diseases' is increasing in Russia, says the WWF communique published within the framework of the press conference. The communique says that, alongside the relatively small rise in the average temperature, the number of extreme phenomena is growing - floods, droughts, hurricanes, temperature peaks. They are the main reason for snowballing damage, the communique says. Yuri Safonov, chief of the environment and economics center at the Higher Schools of Economics, noted that the Russian government on September 30, 2004 instructed developing a mechanism for realization of the Kyoto Protocol. "We very much hope that the finance and economic development ministries will in every way support the realization of the Kyoto protocol in Russia," he said. According to Mr. Kokorin, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref "was one of the zealous supporters of the Kyoto protocol ratification." "The companies RAO UES and Gazprom also support its ratification and implementation," Mr. Kokorin said. For ratification of the Kyoto Protocol Russia will require $1 billion of investments annually, Yuri Safonov said. For that, Russia is to have target projects "attracting investments and creating jobs." "Russia may get economic benefits from the ratification," he thinks. "They are, for instance, the growth of prices for natural gas, which is good for Russian exports, and different quotas on greenhouse gas emissions." Mr. Safonov also said that, in connection with the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, Russia would run no risks in fulfilling economic obligations before other countries which ratified it.

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