- The COP28 Presidency, in partnership with the World Health Organization and UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, unveiled the ‘COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health’ to place health at the heart of climate action and accelerate the development of climate-resilient, sustainable and equitable health systems.
- A set of new finance commitments on climate and health was announced to back up these political commitments, including a USD 300 million commitment by the Global Fund to prepare health systems, USD 100 million by the Rockefeller Foundation to scale up climate and health solutions, and an announcement by the UK Government of up to GBP 54 million. The Declaration is announced ahead of the first ever Health Day at a COP and joins a series of announcements made during the World Climate Action Summit to keep 1.5C within reach.
- Endorsed by 123 countries, the Declaration marks a world first in governments acknowledging the growing health impacts of climate change on communities and countries. It also acknowledges the large benefits to people’s health from stronger climate action, including by reducing air pollution and lowering health care costs.
- For the first time, Health Ministers are attending the annual UN climate conference alongside their peers from Environment Ministries. This signals a shift in how climate policies are considered, with a stronger focus on the social implications of government decisions.
- The announcement comes as annual deaths from polluted air hit almost 9 million, heat-related illness and death on the rise, and as 189 million people are exposed to extreme weather-related events each year.
Dubai, 2 December 2023 :
Today the COP28 Presidency joined with the World Health Organization to announce a new ‘COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health’ (the Declaration) to accelerate actions to protect people’s health from growing climate impacts. The Declaration was announced at the World Climate Action Summit, where world leaders have gathered for the start of COP28.
Signed by 123 countries, the Declaration is announced one day ahead of the first ever Health Day at a COP and marks a world first in acknowledging the need for governments to protect communities and prepare healthcare systems to cope with climate-related health impacts such as extreme heat, air pollution and infectious diseases.
The Declaration was developed with the support of a number of ‘country champions’ including Brazil, Malawi, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Kenya, Fiji, India, Egypt, Sierra Leone, and Germany. This joint action comes as annual deaths from polluted air hit almost 9 million and as 189 million people are exposed to extreme weather-related events each year.
“The impacts of climate change are already at our door. They have become one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century. Governments have now rightly recognized health as a crucial element of climate action” said COP28 President Dr Sultan Al Jaber. He continued “the Declaration sends a strong signal that we must reduce global emissions and work together to strengthen our health systems”.
“The climate crisis is a health crisis, but for too long, health has been a footnote in climate discussions,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization. “WHO thanks the UAE for making health a key priority in its COP28 Presidency, and welcomes this declaration, which emphasizes the need to build climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, to protect the health of both planet and people.”
“Climate change is increasingly impacting the health and wellbeing of our communities,” said Lazarus Chakwera, President of Malawi – one of the first countries to endorse the Declaration. “Malawi has experienced these impacts first-hand – extreme weather events have displaced tens of thousands of our citizens and sparked infectious disease outbreaks that have killed thousands more. This year, at COP28, we are calling for a bolder path forward that prioritizes investments in health and wellbeing, ensures a just transition away from fossil fuels, and creates a healthier future for all of us.”
The Declaration covers a range of action areas at the nexus of climate and health, including building more climate-resilient health systems, strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration to reduce emissions and maximize the health benefits of climate action, and increasing finance for climate and health solutions. Signatories have also committed to incorporate health targets in their national climate plans and improve international collaboration to address the health risks of climate change, including at future COPs.
It is also recognized that finance will be a significant driver of the Declaration’s success.
As such, the COP28 Presidency joined with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Green Climate Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Health Organization to unveil a set of ten principles to bolster financing for climate and health, mobilize new and additional finance, and foster innovation with transformative projects and new multisector approaches. Endorsed by over 40 financing partners and civil society organizations, the COP28 Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions signal the growing collaboration across funders and the momentum to support climate and health solutions in a sustainable manner.
It also welcomed the finance announcements made by a wide range of stakeholders including governments, development banks, multilateral institutions, philanthropies, and NGOs to expand their investments in climate and health solutions. Collectively, these partners have committed to dedicate USD 1 billion to address the growing needs of the climate-health crisis.
“International cooperation is essential to ensuring healthy, resilient communities in vulnerable regions grappling with the effects of climate change. The Green Climate Fund is a proud partner and signatory to the Guiding Principles, which are an important framework for coalescing partners around strategies to mobilize more finance for climate-informed health investments in countries that need them the most,” said Mafalda Duarte, GCF Executive Director.
The COP28 Presidency recognizes that reducing the health impacts of climate change will require action across all of society, including rapid and large-scale action to decarbonize energy systems to reduce emissions by at least 43% over the next seven years.
To this end, the announcement of the Declaration at the World Climate Action Summit on December 2nd was just one of a number of announcements from the COP28 Presidency, which recognized the need to reduce the health impacts of climate change beyond the health sector and included new initiatives to drive rapid decarbonization to reduce emissions by at least 43% over the next seven years to keep 1.5C within reach.
On 3 December – COP28’s Health Day – will see the first ever climate and health Ministerial at a COP. Ministers of Health and senior health delegations from over 100 countries are expected to attend. The COP28 Presidency will also gather climate and global health financiers, development banks, countries, philanthropies, and the private sector to respond to the country priorities and needs raised at COP28 and scale up finance interventions that will protect and promote human health.
