Health in the climate change talks
Member States committed to act and requested WHO's support in formulating effective policy. WHO encourages health sector participation in the climate negotiations to advocate for four main policy objectives:
- Besides environmental and economic damage, the ultimate impact of climate change represents a toll on our most precious resource - human lives and health.
- Mitigation policies in energy, transport and agriculture sectors, if chosen appropriately can also bring significant immediate co-benefits for population health and wellbeing.
- Addressing the impacts of climate change on population health will be the responsibility of the health sector. Investing now in health protection and adaptation can improve resilience to climate change impacts.
- Health sector activities and infrastructure is energy intensive. Reducing the health sector environmental footprint can play a significant role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
WHO contributions to the climate change talks
WHO's ideas and proposals on paragraph 1 of the Bali Action Plan which would encourage protection of health from climate risks.
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Submission 24 April 2009
International Labour Organization (ILO), World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) -
Submission 15 May 2009 [pdf 116kb]
World Health Organization (WHO) to AWG-LCA 6 -
Submission 27 November 2009 [pdf 156kb]
World Health Organization -
Submission June 2010
pdf, 144kb
To the Chair of the Tenth Session Of The Awg-Lca
Next Submission: Under preparation for Climate Change Talks in Bonn (2-6 August 2010).