Climate crisis should already be treated as a public health and social crisis, survey shows
10/09/2025
In the Brazilian Amazon, the climate crisis should already be treated as a public health and social crisis, especially for traditional and Indigenous communities. This is what shows a new survey released this Wednesday (8), in which a third of the more than 4,000 respondents claim to be directly affected by global warming—whether through rising living costs, food insecurity, or heat-related chronic diseases.
The increase in electricity prices was the most common impact mentioned by the Amazonians who responded to a survey by Umane and Vital Strategies, with support from the Devive Institute. In total, 83.4% complained about higher electricity bills.
Other problems included rising average temperatures (82.4%), increased air pollution (75%), more frequent environmental disasters (74.4%), and rising food prices (73%). All of these factors cause and exacerbate health problems, says Luciana Vasconcelos Sardinha, deputy director of chronic non-communicable diseases at Vital Strategies.
Indigenous peoples, quilombolas, riverside communities, and rubber tappers are among the most affected, representing 42.2% of respondents who claim to be directly impacted by the climate crisis. These groups report worsening water quality and food production, increased vulnerability to extreme events, and dependence on natural resources for survival. Most depend on the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) for healthcare.
“The environmental agenda is directly related to public health, especially for more vulnerable populations who, in addition, are farther from urban centers and feel the consequences of drought more acutely, for example. These people also have a more acute perception of what is happening because they depend on natural resources that are under threat,” says Ms. Sardinha.
She emphasizes that exposure to climate change is also greater due to the accumulated deforestation over the last 20 years.
Regardless of the respondents’ income, the survey’s technical manager emphasizes that environmental problems weigh financially on households because they are unable to produce or collect enough of their own food and raw materials. As a result, in addition to food insecurity, households are in the red.
In the Brazilian Amazon, the main economic activity is agriculture. It covers over 5.1 million km2 of land distributed across nine states—Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins, and part of Maranhão. On the map, deforestation is a historical reality, Ms. Sardinha points out, and makes extreme droughts trigger even more serious consequences, for example.
Of the total respondents, 53.3% say they have reduced practices they believe worsen the crisis, and 38.4% say they feel guilty about wasting energy. According to Ms. Sardinha, this feeling reflects a mental health issue, specifically climate anxiety.
There is widespread evidence of health damage caused by intense heat throughout Brazil, says Ana Valério de Araújo, executive director of the Brazil Fund for Human Rights. With poorer health, the population is unable to work, worsening economic activity in regions affected by climate disasters, she says.
“Some groups have their rights violated more than others because they are already experiencing structural changes, in addition to those caused by climate change. For example, Indigenous peoples, who simultaneously fight for their right to land and against the impacts of extreme weather events, which tend to be much greater than for those living in urban areas,” she explains. The trend, she adds, is for climate change to deepen social inequalities if there are no governance and preparedness in the public and private sectors.
*By Isadora Camargo — São Paulo
Source: Valor International
https://valorinternational.globo.com/