A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Organizing Regional Action on Climate Change, Health, and Environment

As the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals looms, the World Health Organization has proposed a new regional framework that aims to build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems, improve the health sector’s access to climate funding, and build an evidence base for policymaking.

The plan covers a period from 2023-2029 and specifically targets the Eastern Mediterranean Region, which is experiencing climate change at a rate twice as fast as the global average. This has led to significant health impacts in that region, including extreme weather events, noncommunicable diseases, and the spread of infectious diseases—all of which are straining healthcare systems.

Timely climate mitigation and adaptation efforts are crucial to reducing the projected damages and losses to human health and ecosystems. Delaying action on climate change will increase risks and undermine public health gains and international commitments that not only include the Sustainable Development Goals, but also a broader human right to health.

READ | Rethinking Population, Climate, and Health: Focusing on Solutions

Peace Has Not Prevented Afghanistan’s Population From Feeling the Heat

Climate change in Afghanistan resulted in a 1.8 C temperature rise from 1950-2010, diminished rainfall by 40 percent, and increased droughts that destroyed harvests and devastated communities. All of these impacts proved especially harmful when combined with the political turmoil the country has faced over that same period.

Hujatallah Jia, a journalist, recently returned to his home in the Ghazni province after several years, only to find that his village appeared deserted. Many of its residents had fled to big cities after prolonged droughts turned this once-lively valley into a parched and desolate one.

The impact of a warming world is contributing to such displacement in many small, agricultural villages that have been worst-hit by climate change. The accumulation of damage had forced many residents to move to Kabul—or, if they had the means, out of the country. Small villages, which were once full of life, face abandonment as rural areas of Afghanistan become depopulated.

READ | Conflict, Crisis, and Peacebuilding: Afghanistan and Regional Water Security

The Global Hunger Index: Youth and Food Systems

The 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI)—an annual report jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe—reveals that global hunger reduction efforts have stalled as multiplying crises spur severe hunger. The index emphasizes the need to empower and engage young people in shaping sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems.

Roughly 42 percent of the world’s population is under 25 and face an increasingly volatile food system. This trend is especially worrying since the majority of global youth reside in low- and middle-income countries. The compounding impacts of climate change, coups and conflicts, economic shocks, the global pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war also exacerbate social and economic inequalities, which hinder the reduction of hunger worldwide.

The report argues that the food systems of the future are going to provide for the youth of today. Addressing hunger and inequality beyond 2030 means that youth representation in food system decision-making—and the removal of barriers hindering their participation—are crucial parts of any solution.

READ | Why Securing Youth Land Rights Matter for Agriculture-Led Growth in Africa