Act to avert climate change and save nearly 700,000 lives in China every year

China is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, and has committed to increasing renewable energy sources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions compared to 2005 levels by 2030.

To improve the country's capacity to avert the health impacts of climate change, WHO recommends:

Conducting National assessments of climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation for health - to identify opportunities through which the health response to climate change can be strengthened;

Improving information systems - specifically, incorporating climate information in the country's disease surveillance and response system (the National Notifiable Diseases Reporting System), including development of early warning and response systems for climate-sensitive health risks.

And finally conducting an analysis of the costs of implementing strategies to enhance health resilience to climate change, and the costs and benefits to heath of other climate change mitigation policies.

"These are important steps which governments must take to tackle climate change and reduce its impact on health - and we urge the Government of China to consider these as it prepares to engage in the COP21 discussions in Paris," Dr Schwartländer said.

"But the rest of us have a role to play too, by being mindful of the impact of our daily choices have on the environment - like the choice of whether to walk or cycle instead of taking the car. The importance of acting on climate change to protect health - for both current and future generations - cannot be overstated. Indeed, the health of human civilisation we know it depends on it.