No climate change justice in lieu of global authorship equity ... - The Lancet

No climate change justice in lieu of global authorship equity - Authors' reply - The Lancet

Climate change is the biggest threat to individual and public health of this century.

But although no country is immune, people living in low-income settings (which historically contributed the least to the climate crisis) are disproportionately affected.
1

- Costello A
- Abbas M
- Allen A
- et al.

Managing the health effects of climate change: Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission.

Lancet. 2009; 373: 1693-1733

Through its annual reports, the Lancet Countdown has exposed the low prioritisation of climate change and health in countries’ political agendas and how the failure of high-income countries to deliver a robust response and international climate finance has so far undermined timely action.
2

- Romanello M
- McGushin A
- Di Napoli C
- et al.

The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future.

Lancet. 2021; 398: 1619-1662
, 2

- Romanello M
- McGushin A
- Di Napoli C
- et al.

The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future.

Lancet. 2021; 398: 1619-1662

It has also shown how countries with low levels in the UNDP-defined Human Development Index are often lagging behind in the implementation of interventions that can help prevent the worst health impacts of climate change and deliver the health co-benefits of a zero-carbon transition. Climate change impacts and action are therefore crosscut by global inequities, and any intention to address them must prioritise global climate (and health) justice. We welcome the correspondence from Mehr Muhammad Adeel Riaz and colleagues, who rightly point out that the involvement of authors from low-income and middle-income countries is essential to achieving this.
3

- Romanello M
- Di Napoli C
- Drummond P
- et al.

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels.

Lancet. 2022; 400: 1619-1654

The Lancet Countdown was established 7 years ago in the UK, with seed funding. Ever since, the Countdown has become a prominent global initiative whose work has influenced climate mitigation and adaptation globally and promoted a human-centred, just response. However, although the Countdown openly welcomes researcher contributions and particularly encourages those from researchers from low-income and middle-income countries,

such authors are still under-represented in its global flagship report: of 99 authors, only 11 have a primary affiliation from a low-income or middle-income country and about ten more are low-income or middle-income country nationals working in high-income settings. To address this problem, over the past 3 years the Lancet Countdown has prioritised opening centres in key low-income and middle-income regions. The purpose of these centres is to build networks of local researchers working on health and climate change, to regularly publish regional reports that are led by local researchers,
4

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change

Our science.

Our science.

and to foster the involvement of researchers from low-income or middle-income countries in our global outputs. This effort is currently ongoing, with further centres announced, including at the recent Africa Health Agenda International Conference.
5

- Cai W
- Zhang C
- Zhang S
- et al.

The 2022 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: leveraging climate actions for healthy ageing.

Lancet Public Heal. 2022; 7: e1073-e1090

As it moves to its next phase, the Lancet Countdown is prioritising sourcing funds to support contributions from under-represented groups of researchers, to deliver a truly just, international project. We remain hopeful that in its next phase, the Lancet Countdown will help tackle the international problem of under-representation of low-income and middle-income country-based, disabled, and minority ethnic researchers in climate and health. In the meantime, we continue to encourage colleagues from low-income and middle-income countries to get in touch with us and contribute to our work.
Funding for this Correspondence was provided by the Wellcome Trust, grant number 209734/Z/17/Z. MR was compensated by this grant for her time during the drafting and developing of this Correspondence. GGS is also supported by a grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research UK. All other authors declare no competing interests.

1.Managing the health effects of climate change: Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission.Lancet. 2009; 373: 1693-1733 2.The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future.Lancet. 2021; 398: 1619-1662 3.The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels.Lancet. 2022; 400: 1619-1654 4.Our science. 5.The 2022 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: leveraging climate actions for healthy ageing.Lancet Public Heal. 2022; 7: e1073-e1090

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Published: 01 April 2023

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00265-9

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