The UN’s 26th climate change conference in November 2021, COP26, represents a huge opportunity to drive forward global ambition on protecting health by reducing emissions, strengthening resilience and adapting to climate change.
As part of the COP26 Health Programme, the COP26 Presidency is working alongside WHO, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and the UNFCCC Climate Champions to engage countries and stakeholders on climate and health.
A webinar on June 10 provided an overview of the COP26 Health Initiatives on Climate Resilient Health Systems and Low Carbon Sustainable Health Systems. You can watch the recordings of the webinars here: morning session recording, afternoon session recording (passcode: %1j%@kC4).
About the Initiatives
The Climate Resilient Health Systems Initiative will support the goals of the Adaptation Action Coalition by addressing the health impacts of climate change while strengthening health resilience. The initiative, coordinated by WHO, calls on and supports governments to strengthen the resilience of their health systems against climate impacts.
The Low Carbon Sustainable Health Systems Initiative aims to mobilize health care systems and institutions around the world to play a leadership role in reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality. The initiative is being coordinated by COP26 Presidency, UNFCC High Level Climate Champions Team, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and WHO.
For more information on the initiative on Climate Resilient Health Systems, please contact the WHO climate change team at villalobose@who.int.
As part of the COP26 Health Programme, initiatives have also been developed on Adaptation Research for Health, the inclusion of health priorities in Nationally Determined Contributions, as well as raising the voice of health professionals as advocates for stronger ambition on climate change.
Programme
The webinar on COP26 Health initiatives took place on June 10th. Sessions had the following structure:
Overview of COP26 health initiatives and commitments (15 min) by Dave McConalogue, Health Adviser, Health Services Team, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Climate resilient health systems Initiative; introduction and technical overview of key actions promoted (20 min) by Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Head, Climate Change and Health Unit, World Health Organization (WHO).
Low carbon-emission health systems Initiative; introduction and technical overview of key actions promoted (20 min) by Sonia Roschnik, International Climate Policy Director, Healthcare Without Harm (HCWH).
Q&A session (30 min) moderated by Elena Villalobos Prats, Technical Officer, Climate Change and Health, WHO.
Panel discussion; main ways to promote country commitments (25 min) by representatives of the Ministry of Health Indonesia; Ministry of Health Ethiopia; the National Health Service England (GreenerNHS); Race to Zero; the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP); the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO); and the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO).
Closing remarks and next steps (10 min) by Dave McConalogue, Health Adviser, Health Services Team, FCDO.
You can watch the recordings of the webinars here:
- morning session recording
- afternoon session recording (passcode: %1j%@kC4)
You can download the presentations of speakers here:
Read More
Initiative on Building Climate Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable Health Systems [PDF]
Low Carbon Sustainable Health Systems Initiative