By Marco Lopez
Geared towards accelerating action to protect human health from growing climate impact, the COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the COP28 presidency at the World Climate Action Summit on December 2, in Dubai.
So far, an estimated one billion US dollars have been pledge by donors. This is seen as only a drop in the bucket considering the trillions of dollars needed for mitigation and adaptations. In essence, all the work we do in those areas – to address the climate crisis – is to ultimately protect the health of humanity and posterity.
For the first time, Health Minister are engaged in at the conference of parties with Environmental Ministers – signally a shift in how the climate reality is perceived by leaders.
About 123 parties signed on to the declaration. It was announced ahead of the first ever Climate Health Day held at a COP. Again marking the world first open acknowledgement of the need for governments to protect communities by preparing healthcare systems to cope with climate-related health impacts.
This year, the record heat, air pollution and increases in vector-borne diseases drove up deaths globally.
“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
Building more climate-resilient health systems, strengthening collaborations to reduce emissions and maximizing health benefits of climate actions are some of the principles of the declaration. Increasing finance for climate and health is also a core principle.
The signatories of the declarations have committed to include health targets in national climate plans going forward, and improve international collaboration to address the health risk of climate change.
In collaboration with the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Green Climate Fund, The Rockefeller Foundations, and the World Health Organization, the COP28 presidency unveil ten principles to bolster financing for climate and health. These include mobilizing new and additional finance, and fostering innovation.
Financing from a wide cross-section of stakeholders inclusive of governments, development banks, multilateral institutions, philanthropies, and NGO’s is being utilized to invest in climate and health solutions.
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.
Rapid largest scale action to reduce emissions and decarbonize the energy system is the most important step that stakeholders can move towards to address the impacts of climate change on human health.
In doing so, we will also be safeguarding the health of the planet – a clear win-win.
On December 3, 40 million health professional demanded bold health and climate actions at the first Health Day at COP28.
“In the face of the urgent challenges posed by health and climate change, health professionals stand united in every effort to improve health outcomes and address the climate crises,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “This inspires us all to contribute to a healthier, more resilient world for generations to come.”
At this time, the health sector receives a mere 0.5% of global climate finance according to the WHO.
