The climate crisis poses an “existential risk” to the health and wellbeing of all children and action to tackle it is needed immediately, Britain’s most senior paediatrician has said.
In a major intervention, Dr Camilla Kingdon, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), said every adolescent was at grave risk from the physical and mental effects of the climate crisis. Healthcare professionals were already seeing its impact first-hand, she added.
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Kingdon attacked what she described as the rolling back of net zero policies by Rishi Sunak and said the country’s most vulnerable children would be left bearing the greatest burden as a result.
Rising temperatures around the world as a result of the climate crisis are having a devastating effect on foetuses, babies and children, multiple studies have found.
Scientists have determined the climate emergency is causing – among other adverse outcomes – an increased risk of premature birth and hospitalisation of young children as well as weight gain in babies. Research shows pollution can stunt children’s lung growth, cause asthma and affect blood pressure, cognitive abilities and mental health.
“Climate change is no longer tomorrow’s problem, it’s today’s,” Kingdon said. “Healthcare professionals across the UK are already seeing its impact first-hand.”
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