Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the defining moment to do something about it. There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.
To boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, UN Secretary-General António Guterres hosted the 2019 Climate Action Summit on 23 September to meet the climate challenge.
The Summit showcased a leap in collective national political ambition and demonstrated massive movements in the real economy in support of the agenda.
WHO is working with Spain, Peru and the Secretary General’s team to secure strong commitments in addressing air pollution and climate change together, and to invest in proven interventions for climate-resilient health systems, and in air quality monitoring and policy implementation.
WHO invites key stakeholders (in particular national governments) to commit to ambitious action on climate change and health:
- As a national or subnational government, you can commit to achieving air quality that is safe for your citizens, and to align your climate change and air pollution policies, by 2030.
- As a multilateral development bank, climate fund, bilateral development agency, philanthropic organization, or private sector actor, you can commit to significantly scale up your investment in proven interventions for climate-resilient health systems, and in air quality monitoring and policy implementation.
You can find more information on how you can develop these commitments on this website, as well as the resources and support that are available for you to act on health.
Outcome
The Clean Air initiative led to commitments in 2019 from over 50 national and 80 sub-national governments, together representing more than 1 billion people, to achieving air quality that is safe for their citizens, and to align their climate change and air pollution policies, by 2030.
The initiative continues in 2020, and governments who have not signed up to the initiative yet are encouraged to do so. WHO and all partners to the initiative are ready to support all stakeholders willing to commit to ambitious action on climate change and health.
Learn More
Call to Action of the Clean Air Initiative
Overview of Proposed Commitments under the Clean Air Initiative
Health commitment 1: National and local governments
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