Health leaders urge prime minister to withdraw oil and gas licences

Health sector leaders in the UK have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to withdraw new licences for North Sea oil and gas that were announced on 31 July.1The letter, signed by members of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, raised concerns about the detrimental effects that further drilling would have on human health, the climate, and nature. Such concerns were shared by the UK public, 74% of whom said that climate change was their second biggest worry, after the rising cost of living (79%), the letter said.Healthcare workers were already seeing the harms being caused by high temperatures, extreme weather, and pollution on human health, said the letter. The heatwaves seen in June and July last year caused more than 300 excess deaths in England and Wales. “Without adequate action heat related deaths are expected to rise to about 7000 a year by the 2050s,” it said.“Ongoing investment…
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