Countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America may equal or exceed the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries within the next two decades. Fossil fuel combustion is associated with both greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. The latter also has a serious impact on human health. It is therefore important that European and other developed countries embark on cooperative activities with developing countries to adopt mitigation measures to reduce both the effects of future climate change and the direct health burdens associated with fossil fuel combustion.
This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.
Recommendation F of the World Health Organization (WHO) working group preparing for the London Health and Environment Conference (June 1999) advocates orientating the activities of bilateral and international donor agencies and other interagency bodies to provide resources and technical assistance to countries in need, for the implementation of both mitigation and adaptation strategies. These strategies should be designed to reduce the short- and long-term health impacts of climate change, fossil fuel combustion and stratospheric ozone depletion.