Global environmental health and sustainable development: the role at Rio+20

Abstract

Global environmental health and sustainable development: the role at Rio+20Saúde ambiental global e desenvolvimento sustentável: o papel na Rio+20Resumo A Conferência da ONU Rio +20 sobre desenvolvimento sustentável representa uma oportunidade crucial para colocar a saúde ambiental à frente da agenda de desenvolvimento sustentável. Bilhões de pessoas que vivem em países de baixa e média renda continuarão a ser afligidas por doenças evitáveis devido a exposições ambientais modificáveis causando sofrimento desnecessário e perpetuando um ciclo de pobreza. Processos de desenvolvimento econômico atuais, enquanto aliviam muitos problemas de saúde e sociais, estão cada vez mais ligados a ameaças de saúde ambiental, abrangendo desde poluição do ar e inatividade física até mudanças climáticas globais. Práticas de desenvolvimento sustentável tentam reduzir o impacto ambiental e deveriam, em teoria, reduzir as consequências adversas da saúde ambiental em relação ao desenvolvimento tradicional. Ainda assim, esses esforços podem também resultar em danos não intencionais e em pior desenvolvimento econômico se a nova "Economia Verde" não for cuidadosamente avaliada para impactos na saúde ambiental e ocupacional adversos. A comunidade da saúde ambiental tem um papel essencial para desempenhar, enfatizando estas relações enquanto líderes internacionais se reúnem para criar políti-cas de desenvolvimento sustentável. Palavras-chave Desenvolvimento sustentável, Saúde ambiental, Saúde global, Mudança climáti-ca, Rio +20 Abstract The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development represents a crucial opportunity to place environmental health at the forefront of the sustainable development agenda. Billions of people living in low-and middleincome countries continue to be afflicted by preventable diseases due to modifiable environmental exposures, causing needless suffering and perpetuating a cycle of poverty. Current processes of economic development, while alleviating many social and health problems, are increasingly linked to environmental health threats, ranging from air pollution and physical inactivity to global climate change. Sustainable development practices attempt to reduce environmental impacts and should, in theory, reduce adverse environmental health consequences compared to traditional development. Yet these efforts could also result in unintended harm and impaired economic development if the new "Green Economy" is not carefully assessed for adverse environmental and occupational health impacts. The environmental health community has an essential role to play in underscoring these relationships as international leaders gather to craft sustainable development policies.

The Lancet Commission on pollution and health

“…Pollutionrelated disease can result in lost income and increased health-care costs, thus imposing disproportionately great economic burdens on poor families and communities. 286 In children, early-life exposure to neurotoxic pollutants can impair cognitive function and diminish the ability to concentrate, further contributing to school failure and reducing lifetime earnings. In example, a long-term follow-up study 144 of children exposed to lead reported that an elevated blood lead concentration at age 11 years was associated with lower cognitive function and reduced socioeconomic status at age 38 years, with diminished IQ, and downward social mobility.…”

The influence of health on economic growth from the perspective of sustainable development: a case of OECD countries

“…Both MDGs and 2030 SDGs include health issue as an important target to achieve sustainable development. Health development can influence other issues or goals to achieve sustainable development in the long term that countries should improve their health policies as much as their economic or environmental policies (WHO, 2002; Suhrcke et al , 2005; Furie and Balbus, 2012; Seke et al , 2013; Buse and Hawkes, 2015; Tangcharoensathien et al , 2015). Especially, the health sector is mostly important for developing countries to achieve sustainable development.…”

“…Poor health population cannot work efficiently and unsustainable health status threatens humanity. Without human well-being, there is no economic growth or development (Furie and Balbus, 2012, p. 1428). Sustainable development aims to provide balance between economic, social and environmental issues as much as possible (Munasinghe, 2000; Yıldırım et al , 2016; Klarin, 2018; Kenny, 2018; Yıldırım and Yıldırım, 2020).…”

International environmental and occupational health: From individual scientists to networked science Hubs

“…More than half the world's population lives in urban areas, and the fastest increases in urbanization are in developing countries [UN/DESA, 2011]. Rapid industrialization and the associated demand for energy, goods, and services generates industrial waste that not only poses occupational hazards, but also pollutes air, land, food and water [Furie and Balbus, 2012]. Increased globalization has yielded a society with fluid borders, global transport, and transboundary pollution presenting new challenges to environmental health [Suk, 2008].…”