The relationships between climate change and health have been studied for several years.
In a report published in 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) states, for example, that the health effects of climate change can already be estimated in terms of the number of deaths and years of life lost, and concern all categories of population.
Climate change and animal health
Is global warming likely to lead to the appearance or development of animal diseases?
Seized on this question by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agency sought to identify animal diseases, in particular transmissible to humans, whose evolution on the territory of metropolitan France in the coming years might be modified by global warming and to prioritize them according to the risks they might present for public health, the economy of livestock farming, as well as according to the degree of probability of their occurrence. Six diseases to be monitored in particular have thus been identified, detailed in a report by the Agency on the consequences of climate change on animal diseases.
Climate change and worker health
Knowledge relating to climatology now makes it possible to make accurate projections of the future climate. On the other hand, the mechanisms by which climatic or environmental modifications affect and might affect human health, whether it concerns the general population or workers, are still poorly documented.
In April 2018, ANSES published a report on the assessment of the risks induced by climate change on the health of workers (PDF), in which it highlights that, with the exception of risks related to noise and radiation artificial, all occupational hazards are and will be affected by climate change and environmental modifications.
Climate change and plant health
Climate change is also part of a notion of global change which includes other planetary phenomena, consequences of evolutions and changes in societies, such as the intensification of trade and changes in production and consumption systems.
The movement of plants, whatever the mode of transport, for commercial purposes or not, in fact favors the movement of pests and pathologies.
Several questions were referred to ANSES reflecting the proven risk of climate change on plant health, for example on the pine processionary caterpillars or on Xylosandrus compactus (PDF), known to be dependent on tropical trees.
In April 2018, ANSES organized, with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), an international conference on the impact of global change on the emergence of plant diseases and pests in Europe.
