Climate, pandemic, and war: an uncontrolled multicrisis of existential proportions

In the heat of the pandemic we parked our response to climate change. In the heat of Russia’s war on Ukraine the pandemic and climate change now take a back seat. That’s inevitable to some degree, and it’s understandable that an illegal act of aggression that is killing thousands and displacing millions is our most urgent challenge. Yet, climate action is most urgent too, as reinforced by the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Health professionals and the communities we serve are facing tremendous stress,” argue Renee Salas and colleagues, “but we must not turn our attention away from the climate emergency” (doi:10.1136/bmj.o680).1

Political attention is easily diverted, with a desire to move on. Take Russia’s targeting of health workers and facilities, for example, which is …