Climate and health: the latest on a silent epidemic

While the main outcome of COP28 was an agreement calling on the parties to "transition away from fossil fuels" with the aim of limiting climate change, it was also the first COP to include a Health Day. Rising global temperatures, extreme meteorological phenomena and ecosystem change are not merely environmental concerns. They are catalysts of a silent epidemic that is affecting human health. Among the main threats are insect-borne diseases, which have long been a focus of research at the Institut Pasteur, and the spillover of viruses from animals to humans.
 
The Institut Pasteur recently hosted several experts on these issues who came along specially to share their insights on the topic with the scientific community.

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On November 28, 2023, sponsors and friends of the Institut Pasteur met to discuss the issue of climate and health, with guests Jean Jouzel, paleoclimatologist, Erik Orsenna, writer, member of the Académie Française and Ambassador of the Institut Pasteur, and Arnaud Fontanet, a physician and epidemiologist at the Institut Pasteur. The event was an opportunity to gage the scale of the challenges and to establish a clear diagnosis that can serve as a springboard for action.

While she was at the Institut Pasteur for the PhD graduation ceremony on December 8, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, a climate scientist at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and expert on the IPCC from 2015 to 2023, was asked "how can we act responsibly in terms of our research practices?" Her statement in response to this question was filmed and can be seen via the link below. If offers a powerful message for the entire Institut Pasteur scientific community, which is keenly aware of and concerned by the environmental challenges related to research.

Click here to see the video (in French)

Find out more (in French)