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A new analysis by the environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth indicates at least six million human lives are at risk in England due to the “lack of climate protections.”
Read more: Climate Crisis Makes UK’s Heavy Rain And Storms 10 Times More Likely, Study Finds
Friends of the Earth said that children and older people are the most at-risk populations within “heat-vulnerable neighborhoods.” This refers to those exposed to 27.5 Celcius or higher for five days or more at a time, which is increasingly likely now that global temperatures are close to 1.5C of warming.
Approximately 28 million people are living within 15,662 heat-vulnerable areas nationwide, including 1.7 million under-fives and 4.3 million over-65s. There are also 3.7 million people with high blood pressure, 1.5 million with asthma, and 1.6 million with diabetes within that 28 million, who are also particularly susceptible to extreme heat.
Furthermore, 2.6 million people living within heat-vulnerable neighborhoods experience depression, another health condition that heat negatively affects.
“The disproportionate impacts that are already being felt by disabled people, and will continue to in the future without better plans for adapting to climate change, are a stain on the UK and show just how far we’ve still to go to ensure disabled lives are taken seriously and treated with the respect they deserve,” said disability rights activist Doug Paulley in a statement.
Read more: Switzerland’s Inaction On Climate Crisis Breaches Human Rights, Says Landmark Court Case
Global temperature records are now broken ‘year on year’
Friends of the Earth and two co-claimants, one of whom is Paulley, will challenge the National Adaptation Programme (NAP) in the UK’s High Court next week. The previous UK government developed the NAP, and Friends of the Earth says that it “does not sufficiently protect people, property, and infrastructure” from the foreseeable impacts of climate change.
“Global temperature records are being broken year on year,” said Friends of the Earth’s head of science, policy, and research Mike Childs. “But the UK’s plans to adapt to the climate crisis are falling far short of what’s needed to protect frontline communities. This failure is putting the lives and health of millions of people at risk.”
London firefighters recently stated that the capital city was at “clear risk” of further wildfires caused by the climate crisis. During a series of extreme heat waves in 2022, the department responded to more than 350 incidents in one day but was hampered by a lack of preparedness.
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