Implementating Systems Science for Urban Health and Wellbeing under Climate Change

Sep 19-20, 2018

Lisbon, Portugal

From the meeting: ...."Present and future climate change impacts and adaptation at global level and in particular on human health is a complex field for research and action that clearly benefits from a systems approach. Urban health in this context is a more restricted but increasingly relevant field since the urban area population is expected to reach 68% of the total population in 2050 (UNDESA, 2018). The understatement of the climate change risks by a scrupulous and professional climate change research community unaccustomed to deal with existential risks has been recently emphasized (Spratt, 2018). In part this message has contributed to the fact that climate policymaking has been for years a flagrant violation of reality. The likelihood of complying with the 2º C of the Paris agreement is close to zero but the IPCC is diligently publishing a report emphasizing that it still is possible to remain below 1.5º C. To achieve the 2º C goal the present CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry, of about 35 GTCO2 in 2017, have to be reduced in the next 33 years by 72% to 9.7GtCO2 but they have increase by about 100% in the last 33 years (Le Quéré, 2018). Maybe urban health and wellbeing under climate change could be an effective vehicle to convey the urgency of action both in terms of mitigation and adaptation."

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