1.1.1 WHO supports countries in developing health vulnerability and adaptation assessments, and national adaptation plans, and provides guidance, capacity-building and piloting of interventions to enhance the climate resilience of health systems (more)

WHO supports countries in developing health vulnerability and adaptation assessments, and national adaptation plans, and provides guidance, capacity-building and piloting of interventions to enhance the climate resilience of health systems through a One Health approach

WHO will support countries’ efforts to ensure that health systems are equipped to anticipate, respond to, recover from, and adapt to climate-related shocks and stresses in order to guarantee the sustained delivery of essential health services. This involves systematically assessing the health risks posed by climate change and aligning these efforts with the pursuit of universal health coverage, scaled-up primary healthcare, and the broader societal goals of climate adaptation. WHO’s leadership will be fundamental to advancing the health argument within climate that health is central to climate policies and fostering multisectoral approaches, partnerships and collaboration.

WHO will provide guidance and technical support to countries in developing health vulnerability and adaptation assessments with a view to building health systems and health services that are resilient to climate shocks and stresses, ensuring long-term sustainability. Recognizing that climate financing is a major barrier in low- and middle-income countries, WHO will provide assistance in accessing financial support for climate and health actions. Moreover, WHO will also work to enhance the capacities of the health workforce and advance prioritized research agendas to ensure that scientific evidence is central to health adaptation to climate change.

These efforts will be aligned with other outputs that focus on WHO’s work for reducing greenhouse emissions and other pollutants (output 1.2.1), addressing other health determinants (output 2.1.1) and tackling risk factors to communicable and noncommunicable diseases (output 2.2.1).