Topic

Climate change and social inequalities

Kerry  Atchison
Kerry Atchison • 7 October 2021

Hello, and if you’ve just joined Music Susnet, welcome to the group! We will try and keep this page regularly updated with posts that are helpful and relevant to those in the music therapy profession - and hope that you will feel welcome to contribute as well.

 

Climate change is fuelling health crises around the world, as explained in this short video created by the Lancet Countdown in 2020. The unequal impacts of global heating are also explored: “Climate change impacts us all, but the vulnerable in our world will feel its impacts most acutely”.

 

The disproportionate effects of climate change are also evident within the UK as described here on the website of Health Declares:

 

“People living in areas of high deprivation, marginalised groups such as refugees and asylum seekers, people with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness are more likely to experience health inequalities. In the UK, people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are more likely to live in polluted areas, experience poverty and have poorer access to healthcare

Different life experiences and opportunities lead to major, avoidable and unfair inequalities in health. For example, men living in the poorest areas of the UK die over 9 years earlier than men from the least deprived areas (7 years earlier in women).

The climate crisis can’t be addressed effectively without also tackling underlying socio-economic and racial inequalities.  This means we need fairer public policies, anti-racism and action to address other forms of discrimination and exclusion.”

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