World leaders gathered in Egypt this past week for the COP27 global climate summit - a meeting seen as critical to negotiate how the world will further cut carbon emission to bring climate change under control. And the focus this time? Its impact on health and human lives. 

The world has already experienced climate change's devastating consequences on human health. New data from UN Development Program (UNDP) estimates climate change to be twice as deadly as cancer in some parts of the world if carbon emissions remain high. Rising temperatures are bringing on intense droughts, heatwaves, floods and storms, and spurring the spread of infectious diseases.

Beyond the numbers are stories of people who have borne the brunt of inaction on climate change. Karlette Vasquez lost her home when Super Typhoon Rai crashed through the Philippine city of Surigao. Drought situations in rural Yemen put Haliya Al-Jalal at risk of losing access to scarce rainwater. Climate change is threatening the survival of vulnerable communities worldwide and young people are calling for change. 

Against the backdrop of a rapidly warming climate, the call by WHO to keep health at the centre of COP27 negotiations is a somber one. The world can barely turn the tide on the climate trajectory. We will do well to heed the call to take action.