Climate change mitigation and synergies with primary cancer prevention in Europe: time to implement opportunities

Ten years after the adoption of the treaty on climate change by the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, implementation of climate change mitigation measures remains a priority and urgency. Same priority and urgency apply to cancer prevention to counter the trend of an increasing cancer burden. The burden is projected to increase worldwide more than 50% during the next 20-25 years, ruling out treatment as the only countermeasure due to overburdened health systems. While the effects of global warming on the cancer burden are highly speculative, synergies of remedial action on climate change and increasing cancer rates have clearer evidence base. These synergies are described for the situation in Europe using the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer (ECAC) for recommendations on cancer prevention and the 2030 breakthroughs for climate change mitigation by the United Nations Climate Change (UNCC) High-Level Champions Climate Solutions Implementation Roadmap. ECAC’s recommendations on healthy body weight, physical activity, reduced meat consumption, avoiding too much sun, and reducing air pollution, align well with many of the 2030 breakthrough recommendations. Those are on healthier food including limiting meat consumption, on cleaner air through reducing transportation and through in general reducing carbon, methane and other emissions, and on mitigating temperature rise. Campaigns combining climate change mitigation with cancer prevention have the potential to encourage individuals, community groups, and policy-makers to empower the implementation of measures to counter global warming and towards a world where fewer people get cancer.