Climate Change and Health

Communities across British Columbia (BC) are taking action to adapt to climate change and increase their resiliency to future climate events.

See some of the examples in the roundtable event on “Mobilizing Public Health Action on Climate Change” hosted by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

The Chief Public Health Officer of Canada issued a report on public health action on climate change. Review the report:

The costs of climate change, including its impacts on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, are strongly felt by Indigenous Peoples due to their dependence upon, and close relationship, with the environment and its resources.

Climate change actions need to consider the varied roles Indigenous Peoples and knowledge plays in stewarding the environment, combating climate change and building climate resiliency. Climate change adds to the burdens already faced by Indigenous Peoples through the colonial narrative of political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment among other things.

We need to abide by Indigenous Title and Rights and respect their territories’ creating and actioning opportunities to partner with and learn from Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians and stewards of the land, in order to build resilience for all.

Climate change is linked to changing weather patterns, causing more frequent extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. These events disrupt agricultural activities, seafood, traditional Indigenous and non-Indigenous food hunting and gathering practices, supply chains, and threaten the amount and variety of food we can access. Remote communities with less access to food options are disproportionally affected.