Event highlights
Fourth hearing on co-creating and co-owning EPW2: shaping a resilient and healthy future faced with climate change
Climate change is having severe impacts across the WHO European Region, which is the fastest warming Region on the planet. Heatwaves are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths every year in the Region. In the last 50 years, climate-related disasters in the Region, in particular flooding, have claimed 160 000 lives and caused nearly half a trillion dollars in economic losses. Beyond extreme weather, climate change is exacerbating a growing mental health crisis, driving a rise in infectious diseases, worsening air pollution, affecting water and food security, and posing ever more new challenges to our health systems and our society.
Over 800 people, from governments, nongovernmental organizations, academia, the United Nations and other intergovernmental institutions, and the private sector participated in the 4th hearing to inform the development of the second European Programme of Work 2026–2030 (EPW2).
Opening the event, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, reinforced his commitment to addressing the effects of climate change on health and supporting health systems to adapt and become resilient to climate change, while improving the environmental sustainability of their operations. He emphasized how the Budapest Declaration on environment and health is driving policy development in this area, spearheaded by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health in Bonn, Germany, in partnership with countries. Later, Professor Ernst Kuipers, former Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands (Kingdom of the), provided a global perspective, and explained how the threat to global health achievements from climate change served as the impetus to drive forward the recent World Health Assembly resolution (WHA77.14) on climate change and health.
Through the development of EPW2, there is now an opportunity to mainstream climate change across public health policies in the European Region.
Speaking at the opening of the hearing, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, former Prime Minister of Iceland, underlined how a whole-of-government approach – bringing together the transport, urban planning, education and health sectors – is beneficial both for health and climate action. Ms Jakobsdóttir also reflected on the aim to convene a Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health later this year. As its future chairperson, she noted its ambition to unlock political commitment to transform climate-health action – including both mitigation and adaptation measures, and develop pragmatic proposals and solutions.
Dr Jane Goodall, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations Messenger of Peace, reminded us that nature, biodiversity and the climate are intertwined, and their protection requires urgent action. Dr Goodall called on everybody to make a change and act now.
Sir Andrew Haines, Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, presented the climate science and connections to health outcomes. Highlighting the need for both adaptation and mitigation policies that are health-focussed, he presented the argument for building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, improving industrial processes, and transitioning to renewable energy and sustainable transport.
Following the keynote addresses, a series of “lightning speakers” then highlighted different aspects of climate action. Starting with a national perspective, Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, Minister of Health of Slovenia, illustrated the use of legislative reform to drive climate action and protect health. Slovenia has developed guidelines for decarbonizing their health system together with a comprehensive strategy for climate change and health, which can be used as a model for other small countries.
Dr Gulnara Mukhanova, Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Integration of the Ministry of Healthcare of Kazakhstan, highlighted the need to bring together different sectors to protect vulnerable populations and rural communities from climate change through evidence-based approaches.
At the subnational level, Heiko van Muylder, Chief of Cabinet to the Flemish Minister of Welfare and Poverty Reduction, Culture and Equal Opportunities in Belgium, noted the importance of indicators so that science can be used to drive evidence-based policy development.
At the city level, Dagur Eggertsson, Member of Parliament and former Mayor of Reykjavík in Iceland, noted how faced with urbanization, local action is the solution, strengthened through a participatory approach with communities and across generations.
Katja Čič, WHO Youth Council Member, built upon the cross-generational argument, noting that youth engagement is fundamental for driving climate action, that current governance structures could benefit from updates to better meet today’s needs, and that the youth voice is still underrepresented in policy-making processes.
From the nongovernmental perspective, Nina Renshaw, Head of Health at the Clean Air Fund, illustrated how quickly fossil fuel use reduction measures bring health benefits through improved air quality. Urgent action and investments in energy efficiency, use of cleaner energies and phasing out fossil fuels and their subsidies will all drive strong climate action with significant health benefits, she asserted.
Professor Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Director of the Air Pollution and Urban Environment Programme at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain, provided examples of new approaches to urban design in cities that reduce both carbon dioxide emissions and noise, while also improving green space. He emphasized the clear health benefits to be gained in working towards a net-zero equitable urban future through cross-sectoral action.
Thematic breakout sessions
Five thematic breakout sessions facilitated active participation and allowed the discussions to delve more deeply into key areas of the topic.
Closing the equity gap: to protect the most vulnerable from the climate crisis, participants noted that we need to listen to the most vulnerable communities, including but not limited to refugees, homeless people, people living with chronic diseases and disabilities, indigenous communities, and children and youth. Participants noted that no one should be left behind when addressing climate change and health, as inclusive policies help build public trust in government efforts being fair and just. Public participation and co-production were also highlighted as being key to ensuring that communities have a voice in shaping interventions and benefit equally – both at national and local levels. Participants stressed that long-term strategies on climate and health must address the goal of protecting the most vulnerable from the effects of climate change.
Climate change as a health security threat: the changing climate is driving health insecurity through natural disasters, infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and health system vulnerabilities. It converges with, and is exacerbated by other crises, and is felt more sorely by those who are most vulnerable. Investments that benefit and strengthen health security can also contribute towards tackling climate change and building climate resilience but need to be linked across different sectors.
Delivering health in a changing world: to future proof our health systems and services for climate change, we need to address the triple planetary crisis – climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss – by integrating sustainability into policies and building resilient infrastructure. Participants recognized that we must increase collaboration with the medical professions, and enhance their education and climate-literacy by fostering cross-sectoral cooperation, incorporating climate-health linkages into medical curricula, and ensuring that procurement of medical products and uptake of new technologies aligns with sustainability goals.
Breaking the cycle – noncommunicable diseases and mental health: focussing on climate change fuelling noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions, this session noted that preventative measures are crucial to addressing both morbidity and mortality. Adoption of a more holistic approach to climate change and health can address areas including urban green spaces, safe active mobility, sustainable agriculture, plant-based diets and cleaner energy. The health benefits need to be translated into concrete and pragmatic recommendations to be integrated into climate change policies and programmes, which to be effective need to address the commercial determinants of health and engage youth. There is also a need for data-driven research around issues such as eco-anxiety and the impact of decreased biodiversity.
Stopping the next outbreak: this session, focussed on the detection of and response to climate-driven infectious diseases, and acknowledged the multidimensional connection between climate change and health. There was a call to leverage the One Health approach to promote multisectoral collaboration to address interconnected risks, including by investing in integrated environment and health monitoring systems and surveillance, and preventing antimicrobial resistance – the risk of which is enhanced by climate change. Participants emphasized the need to integrate climate change strategies into disease outbreak preparedness and response to address risks and vulnerabilities, for example in the aftermath of floods, where the prompt availability of vaccines may reduce the risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases. The discussions also highlighted the need to prioritize preparedness by ensuring the availability of climate-resilient infectious disease care systems, especially among vulnerable populations such as refugees.
Event notice
The climate crisis is a health crisis.
Climate change has hit the WHO European Region hard, impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions and causing thousands of preventable deaths, as well as enormous economic costs from floods, heatwaves and wildfires each year.
Affecting a wide range of health issues from vector-borne and other infectious diseases to mental health conditions, to water and food security, the climate crisis is one of the most pressing threats to public health of our time.
Acknowledging the scale of the crisis and the need to build resilient, sustainable communities and health systems, WHO/Europe is organizing an external hearing to bring together Member States, partners and civil society representatives.
The hearing aims to:
- mobilize a wide range of stakeholders for climate and health action;
- gather actionable ideas to inform the development of the second European Programme of Work 2026–2030 (EPW2); and
- foster partnerships to drive health and climate action across the Region.
Keynote speakers include:
- Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe;
- Dr Jane Goodall, Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute, and United Nations Messenger of Peace;
- Andrew Haines, Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and
- Katrín Jakobsdóttir, former Prime Minister, Iceland.
Register now and shape the future of health in Europe and central Asia.
WHO/Europe’s work on climate change
WHO/Europe supports Member States in preventing, preparing for and responding to the health effects of climate change. EPW2 will put climate change at the heart of its efforts to promote health resilience, adaptation and mitigation policies that are beneficial to health, preparing health systems in the Region for current and future challenges. Key topics for EPW2 will be:
- climate-resilient health systems
- low-carbon, sustainable health services
- inclusive solutions for vulnerable populations.
A series of hearings to inform EPW2
The feedback gathered through these sessions will inform EPW2, ensuring it addresses key health challenges and promotes equity and resilience. The hearings are conducted online, enabling broad participation and fostering collaboration across diverse stakeholders.
To sign up for the hearings, please follow the link, and for further information, write to epw2@who.int