Ageing in a Warming World: Why Older people are more vulnerable to Climate Change
Climate change poses huge threats to humanity, needing immediate and
comprehensive response. Climate change and an ageing population are two of the
most pressing concerns of this century, needing simultaneous assessment and action,
with considerable implications for health. Climate change affects everyone, but it has
a disproportionate impact on the elderly.
This is owing to a heightened sensitivity of older adults, which derives from
physiological, social, and environmental variables enhancing their risk of unfavorable
health impacts caused by climate change.
For example, during Hurricane Katrina, 71% of the fatalities were older people,
despite them only being 15% of the population [ Kriebel-Gasparro, 2022]. A recent
study assessing floods across 761 communities worldwide also found stronger
associations between floods and mortality risk in sites with larger proportions of older
people, combined to those that had a smaller older population [Yang, W Huang et. Al,
2023]. Higher mortality risk among older people, compared to younger, have also
been identified in the case of heat [Son, Liu and Bell, 2019], with a 45-year study in
Scotland reporting the oldest age group (85+) as the most affected by extreme cold
and heat exposure, particularly for cardiovascular mortality [Feng, Hajat, and Doherty,
2022].
As reported later in this paper, increased mortality is not the only outcome that
highlights the increased vulnerability of older people. Despite this, as a group, older
persons have often been neglected in studies on the impact of climate change. This is
a major oversight for older persons living in all regions and countries, not only in
high-income countries: already two-thirds of older people live in middle-income
countries. Moreover, the proportion of older persons globally is increasing; by 2030,
one in six people will be 60 years of age or older globally, and by 2050, one in five
will represent over two billion older people [United Nations, 2020].
Global policies are taking note and can be used as a platform to address the needs and
Healthy Ageing for 2021–2030, uniting various stakeholders to enhance
the well-being of older people in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
– with healthy ageing defined as ‘the process of developing and maintain the
functional ability that enables well-being in older age’ [United Nations, 2020]. This is
an opportunity to rethink and assess the impact of climate change on older people, as
all UN Member States have endorsed that the environment plays a crucial role in
promoting healthy ageing [United Nations, 2015]. Climate change impacts older
individuals and the process to optimise healthy ageing affects not only longevity but
people’s abilities to be and do what they value [[Son, Liu and Bell, 2019]. This
includes people’s ‘intrinsic capacities’ and a person’s interaction with their local
environment including the natural environment. The interaction between the person
and their environment enables or hinders people to function in families, communities
or society with supportive environments optimising a person’s ‘functional ability’ at
any level of ‘intrinsic capacity [ United Nations, 2020]. Together, these shape how
individual older people experience well-being.
Overcoming ageist stereotypes of older people as incapable, passive or disinterested is
crucial to mobilising the older generation towards climate action. Climate change will
impact older generations more severely than younger people, and the environmental
movement must therefore not only be more inclusive of older people, but policy
making must also consider the needs of older people to build a climate resilient future.
Older people are also more likely to be victims of the impacts of extreme weather
caused by climate change (Haq, G. (2021). This could be due to mobility difficulties,
vulnerability to extreme heat, long-term impacts from flooding such as the spread of
disease or heightened possibilities of mental illness in challenging circumstances.
The following are steps to effectively engage older people on climate change issues:
- Set aside ageist stereotypes
- Older people are not a homogeneous group: develop an understanding of the differences within the older generations.
- Environmental groups should work with brands that older people already trust for more effective messaging
- Use peer-to-peer communication: older people are more likely to engage with ideas presented by people they know and trust.
- Use positive messaging.
- Use ‘frames’ such as thrift, intergenerational justice, legacy thinking and community work to present ideas.
- Communicate through real-life examples that are familiar to an older audience.
- Speak directly with older people, rather than through service providers.
- Maximise participation by promoting debate and discussion rather than lecturing.
- Engaging older people must be part of a whole-system change, including cross sectoral policies which promote the transition to a low carbon economy.
Enabling older people to be part of the conversation on climate action can enable
more inclusive decision-making, reflecting the needs of an ageing population. Climate
change activism must harness the energy of older generations who already show
themselves willing to be involved.
References
Haq, G. (2021). The forgotten generation: older people and climate change. In K. Bell
(Ed.), Diversity and Inclusion in Environmentalism. Routledge
A Kriebel-Gasparro. Climate Change: Effects on the Older Adult. J Nurse Pract.
2022;18:372-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2022.01.007
JY Son, JC Liu, and ML Bell. Temperature-related mortality: a systematic review
and investigation of effect modifiers. Environ Res Lett. 2019;7:073004.
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab1cdb
K Wan, Z Feng, S Hajat, and RM Doherty. Temperature-related mortality and
associated vulnerabilities: evidence from Scotland using extended time-series datasets.
Environ Health. 2022;21:99 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-022-00912-5. [PMID:36284320]
Prina et. al 2024, Climate change and healthy ageing: An assessment of the impact of
climate hazards on older people
[7] SM Sarkar, BK Dhar, M Fahlevi, S Ahmed, MDJ Hossain, and MM Rahman.
Climate Change and Aging Health in Developing Countries. Glob Chall.
2023;7:2200246. DOI: 10.1002/gch2.202200246. [PMID:37635700]
United Nations. Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030): resolution/adopted by the
General Assembly. United Nations; 2020.
United Nations. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations; 2015.
Source : Florence Kyei
The author is an Environmental & Climate Journalist and Lead Writer at Lead News.
Emal: [email protected]
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florence-kyei-970764140
Twitter: https://x.com/evlogia_7
