A/HRC/32/23 half century of gains in development and global health.10 One recent study found that “unmitigated warming is expected to reshape the global economy by reducing average global incomes roughly 23 per cent by 2100 and widening global income inequality, relative to scenarios without climate change”.11 9. In the Human Rights Council panel discussion and in their written submissions, stakeholders overwhelmingly agreed that climate change posed a grave threat to human health, including the social and environmental determinants of health such as clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter (see A/HRC/32/24). This is confirmed by expert analysis. For example, the World Bank has estimated that climate change may result in 1 billion to 2 billion people lacking an adequate supply of water.12 10. Negative impacts caused by climate change are global, contemporaneous and expected to increase exponentially according to the degree of climate change that ultimately takes place. Climate change, therefore, requires a global, rights-based response. The Human Rights Council, its special procedures mechanisms and OHCHR have consistently brought attention to the links between human rights and climate change through a series of resolutions, reports and activities on the subject, and by advocating a human rights-based approach.13 A rights-based approach to climate change, as called for in various Council resolutions,14 has the potential to inform and strengthen international, regional and national policy, promoting policy coherence, human well-being and sustainable development. 11. The importance of a rights-based approach and the right to health is explicitly recognized in the Paris Agreement, which calls on States to respect, promote and consider human rights, including the right to health, in their respective climate actions. Improved understanding of the key impacts of climate change on the health of all persons, particularly those in vulnerable situations, should inform a rights-based approach. Some of these impacts are detailed below. A. Key impacts of climate change on health 1. Heat-related health impacts 12. According to WHO, projected increases in average seasonal temperatures and the frequency and intensity of heatwaves will contribute to increases in heat-related deaths among people aged over 65 years. Compared to a future without climate change, this is projected to result in nearly 38,000 additional deaths per year as of 2030 and nearly 100,000 additional deaths per year as of 2050. The largest impacts will be felt in South-East Asia.15 13. Heatwaves also contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and pose a health risk for people working outdoors or under ineffectively climate-controlled conditions. Occupational health risks include clinical heatstroke and death. Increasing temperatures also have implications for labour productivity and poverty reduction, 10 11 12 13 14 15 See Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, “Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health” (2015). M. Burke, S.M. Hsiang and E. Miguel, “Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production”, Nature, vol. 527, pp. 235-239 (12 November 2015). World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, p. 5. See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/HRClimateChangeIndex.aspx. See resolutions 7/23, 10/4, 18/22, 26/27 and 29/15. WHO, Quantitative Risk Assessment. 5