Introduction by Croakey: As we’ve been reporting in recent days and weeks, there has been a great deal of activity in the climate and health space globally, with more important meetings on the horizon. Below University of Melbourne researchers Dr Belle Workman and Professor Kathryn Bowen review where we are at, in Australia and globally, and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Their report, which stresses the need to increase financing for climate and health initiatives, comes as the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warns that that the world is speeding towards “climate hell”.
Beneath their article are links to other recent news on climate and health, including a new study suggesting children’s health is being overlooked in many countries’ adaptation plans.
Belle Workman and Kathryn Bowen write:
As temperatures in India soared to record highs of over 50 degrees Celsius, the world’s health leaders, including Australia’s Health Minister, gathered in Geneva last week. The 36th Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting and the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) renewed opportunities to progress efforts to address the health impacts of climate change.
In Australia, the recent Federal Budget has led to disappointment among researchers, practitioners and advocates working to progress efforts on climate and health. The National Health and Climate Strategy was well received when it was published last year, yet no additional funding has been allocated in the 2024–25 Federal Budget to support its implementation.
Globally, however, a commitment to addressing climate-related health impacts appears to be gaining political traction.
After decades as a peripheral issue in global climate politics, the first-ever ‘health day’ was a welcome focus at international climate negotiations at COP28 in Dubai last year. Since then, health ministers appear increasingly engaged in international fora on efforts to reduce climate-related health impacts and to build climate-resilient health systems.
Should we feel optimistic about recent global progress on climate and health? Is this engagement likely to lead to meaningful outcomes on the ground for those most severely affected by climate-related health impacts?
As recent observers of developments in Geneva at the 77th WHA, we believe there is reason for cautious optimism, but next steps are critical to ensuring progress.
On the international stage
2023 proved a catalysing year for climate and health, with the G20 under the Indian Presidency and the Asian Development Bank agreeing to support climate and health through substantial investments. This engagement was reinforced at the Health Day at COP28 in Dubai, where the COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health was released.
This year, global climate-health policy efforts commenced with health leaders on 25 May, when Commonwealth Health Ministers met in Geneva. Climate and health was squarely on the agenda, with the final outcome statement explicitly recognising “the profound impact of climate change on health and wellbeing of populations and health systems” and “the need to build resilient and environmentally sustainable health systems”.
Last week at the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA), the World Health Organization (WHO) finalised its 14th General Programme of Work for 2025–2028, which included climate change as a priority focus area and cemented the role of the WHO’s Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) initiative as a key vehicle for progressing climate–health endeavours.
Integrated and cross-sectoral approaches – that is, simultaneously pursuing low-carbon and climate-resilient health systems – are recognised as critical to protect the health of populations experiencing the impacts of climate change.
The WHA also saw the adoption of a Climate and Health Resolution, which reinforced the need for a “Health in All Policies” approach to policy development, seeing health considerations accounted for in agriculture, energy and transport-sector policies.
The Australian Government was among the 37 countries to co-sponsor the resolution. The resolution, however, contains some recognised limitations, such as its lack of reference to energy sources and the need for gender-responsive measures. These gaps will need to be addressed in future intergovernmental agreements to protect those most at risk from climate change.
Looking ahead
This week, international climate negotiation intersessional meetings have started in Bonn to advance progress on global climate negotiations ahead of COP29.
The global community will meet for negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan in November, where the focus will be squarely on securing the climate finance needed to support global action on climate change.
While climate finance has historically been allocated to accelerating mitigation efforts in high-emitting sectors, we argue it is imperative that financing increases for adaptation and sustainable development efforts, with health as a key consideration.
A fraction of global adaptation financing has been dedicated to health-related impacts to date.
Programmatic commitments from WHO and governments suggest that the tide is turning for health at the global level, although financing outcomes in Baku will provide a better indication of the potential to implement climate and health efforts in 2025 and beyond.
In the absence of sufficient financing, there will be limited traction on implementing climate and health outcomes.
Looking beyond financing, though, it is interesting to observe the rapid influx of organisations enthusiastic to work on climate change and health since its increasing visibility.
This is a welcome shift, but we must ensure that all our work is harmonised and does not waste critical time or human resources and builds on the decades of work already at hand.
As the WHO Regional Director of Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, stated: “Collective action now – these are our marching orders following the approval of the Global Work Programme and the resolution.”
More from social media
Croakey notes that Dr Claudia Sheinbaum has a PhD in energy engineering.
Climate Policy: Health co-benefits and trade-offs of carbon pricing: a narrative synthesis
This article says carbon pricing is a key component of current climate policy agendas, and brings a variety of societal and health impacts. “A better understanding of potential health impacts and how they depend on context and policy design is crucial to improve the political feasibility and fairness of carbon pricing,” the authors write.
While the health impacts of carbon pricing are highly context-specific and further evidence is needed, particularly on health inequalities, the authors say that existing evidence suggests that it is possible to design health-beneficial carbon pricing policies, thus enhancing policy acceptability and feasibility.
The Lancet: The authors wrote: Using a document analysis method, we examined 160 national adaptation policies for inclusion of child-relevant measures and identified 19 child health-related adaptation domains. 44 (28%) of 160 countries’ policies that were analysed failed to include any domains, 49 (31%) included at least one child-related domain, 62 (39%) included between two and six domains, and five (3%) included at least seven domains. Predominant domains among child-specific adaptation measures included education and awareness raising, followed by community engagement and nutrition. No country addressed children’s direct needs in the domain of mental health. Limited inclusion of child-specific measures in national adaptation policies suggests insufficient recognition of and action on children’s susceptibility to climate change effects.
AIHW: Climate change and environmental health indicators: reporting framework
See Croakey’s extensive archives on the National Health and Climate Strategy
