Possible Impacts of Climate Change on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health Climate change involves an increase in a host of health hazards. These include: 1) extreme air temperatures and air pollution leading to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, 2) floods, droughts and contaminated water problems that increase the risk of diseases, for example mosquito-borne diseases, 3) heightened risk of malnutrition linked to the deleterious effects of climate change on food production and the loss of certain wild plant and animal species, 4) greater frequency of extreme weather events that destroy lives and livelihoods, 5) health risks linked to forced migrations caused by climate change, and 6) an increase in armed conflicts over natural resources threatening both physical and mental health. In this context marked by a sharp increase in health risks, governments are challenged to develop flexible strategies in order to ensure accessible health services and medicine on an increasing scale. Such a commitment, clearly articulated in Article 12 of ICESCR, requires innovative strategies, policies and legal frameworks. 8.2 Understanding the Right to Health in the Context of Climate Change Mitigation Policies There are a number of intersections between climate change mitigation and the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. For example, switching to cleaner cookstove technologies can not only mitigate climate change by reducing emissions, but also benefit health by reducing levels of indoor air pollution. Transport, especially in urban centres, can also have an important impact on the right to health. Policies promoting a shift to public transportation and phasing out private motorised transport for commuting have obvious mitigation benefits in terms of reducing carbon emissions, as well as direct health benefits. Indeed, urban air pollution linked to vehicle emissions is a serious health hazard. Public transport policies can also be combined with policies encouraging so-called “active transport” such as cycling and walking, which promote physical and mental health. Active transport and public transport require adequate urban planning, with features such as reserved bus lanes and bicycle paths. CASE STUDY: The “Lighting a Billion Lives” initiative332 Approximately 1.5 billion people in the world lack electricity, and about a quarter of these people live in India. Many are forced to light their homes after sunset with kerosene lamps, dung cakes, firewood and crop residue. These practices lead to indoor air pollution, which is a major cause of respiratory illnesses. Use of kerosene has also been linked to tuberculosis, and kerosene and paraffin lamps lead to a risk of injury. The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), a large Indian NGO, began the “Lighting a Billion Lives” initiative to address these issues by providing Indian households with lowenergy LED lanterns powered by sunlight. These lanterns can be recharged during the day, and provide 3 to 6 hours of light to a household every night. The initiative was launched in 2007, and within three years the solar lanterns had spread rapidly, reaching 600 villages in 16 81