Sea-level rise is a health crisis and we must hold polluters accountable | Christiana Figueres

Those facing the earliest and harshest consequences are, overwhelmingly, those who did the least to create them

• World held hostage by reliance on fossil fuels, Christiana Figueres warns

• What are the health impacts of sea-level rise, and who should pay?

There are moments in history when a crisis long treated as distant reveals itself to be intimate, immediate and profoundly human. Sea-level rise is one of those moments.

For years it has been discussed in the abstract language of centimetres, coastal infrastructure and future projections. This can make it seem like a technical challenge – something for engineers and planners to grapple with. But rising seas are already damaging bodies, minds, livelihoods and cultures. Sea-level rise is a present-day health crisis.

Christiana Figueres was the head of the UN climate change convention from 2010 to 2016. She is co-founder of Global Optimism, and co-host of the climate podcast Outrage + Optimism