Health and climate

INSIGHT

Environmental damage represents a threat to public health. Caused by human activity, this damage aggravates the risk to health and also creates new problems. The pharmaceutical industry has the power to limit its impact on the environment.

How does the state of the environment affect human health?

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 12.6 million deaths around the world occur every year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment. Air pollution, dirty water and toxic substances are aggravating factors behind strokes, heart diseases, cancers and chronic respiratory conditions, which account for nearly two thirds of deaths.

Recurrent heatwaves significantly exacerbate the risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary illness. Natural catastrophes, which occur increasingly frequently, cause serious injuries and affect access to care.

Furthermore, climate imbalance and pollution erode biodiversity, which in turn damages the environment. The rapid disappearance of many species and the degradation of ecosystems disrupt the natural processes essential to humankind, such as water purification and disease regulation. For example, the degradation of aquatic ecosystems affects the natural water purification process, exposing populations to a greater risk of waterborne diseases.

However, solutions do exist. Several studies estimate that ambitious climate policies would generate considerable concurrent benefits for human health. According to the WHO, meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement “could save about a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone”.

The pharmaceutical industry and its true impact on the environment

On a global scale, greenhouse gas emissions generated by the health industry account for between 1.5% and 7.6% of national emissions³, with significant differences between national GDP. According to a study carried out by The Shift Project⁴, the health industry accounts for around 8% of national emissions, 29% of which is down to medicine procurement (the carbon costs of production and the volume of medicines consumed or wasted).

The impact of the pharmaceutical industry on water resources also cannot be overlooked. A study carried out by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022 found that at 25.7% of sites where samples were taken, concentrations of active pharmaceutical ingredient residues (developed to treat humans or animals) found in rivers around the world reached levels considered to be toxic for ecosystems.

Furthermore, the management of single-use plastic packaging opens a wealth of opportunities for improvement within the industry. In France, these plastics represent nearly 17,000 metric tons, or 27% of household medicine packaging⁵. The idea is to limit the use of non-recyclable packaging while also developing more effective collection channels.