In May 2024, during the 77th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved a historic resolution that marks a turning point in how the intersection between climate change and public health is addressed. The Declaration emphasises both the need to prioritise health in national and international climate policy frameworks and the creation of climate-resilient, low-carbon health systems. A year later, in May 2025, the WHO Assembly approved the ‘Draft Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health 2025-2028’, a request made in the previous year's resolution to operationalise this interest in defining the relationship between climate change and health.
This Action Plan is divided into three areas of action, each with at least one global goal:
The global goal in this area would be to ‘Advocate for the integration of health in national and global climate agendas and vice versa’. Health is gaining prominence in these international discussions. At COP 26, two commitments were made: to make health systems climate-resilient and to make those health systems sustainable, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In turn, this goal has three different objectives:
1. Ensure that the WHO coordinates and guides an international and national response to climate change and health, which should help mobilise resources, improve the visibility of this issue, and increase the participation and integration of health in climate discussions, always with a focus on equity and ‘health in all policies’.
2. Promote measures that improve health while mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects, going beyond traditional work in the health sector. This involves incorporating a public health perspective, promoting clean energy, urban planning, and healthier and more sustainable transport and food systems. We must also improve the climate resilience of health systems and support adaptation measures that promote health in other key sectors, such as water and sanitation, food and agriculture, energy and housing.
3. Gain the commitment and support of the healthcare community and the general public, so that they are aware of, committed to, and support climate action and health work.
The goal is to ‘Create a robust and relevant, evidence base that is available and connected directly to policy, implementation and monitoring’, with the objectives of strengthening evidence and shaping a global research landscape, fostering multidisciplinary cooperation and collaboration, promoting research and the integration of climate and health data and surveillance systems, and supporting research on climate change and health determinants in the context of Universal Health Coverage (including primary health care) and health emergencies.
There are two different goals in this area of action. The first is to ‘Promote climate change adaptation efforts to address health risks and support mitigation efforts that maximize health benefits’, including as objectives incorporating health into global and national climate policies and activities, and, conversely, to integrate climate into national health policies, strategies, and plans, promoting the ‘One Health’ approach, which considers human, animal, and ecosystem health to be interconnected.
The second goal is to ‘Ensure health systems and healthcare facilities are climate-resilient, low-carbon and environmentally sustainable’ by conducting periodic assessments of the health risks posed by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from health systems and implementing climate change and health interventions to increase climate resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from health systems and facilities.
This is an ambitious plan that is intended to be implemented at a complex time if we analyse the resistance to climate action, which is seen not as a global problem but as a political choice, where denialism is very important among some relevant people and political leaders, something that permeates the population.
The relationship between health and climate change is an increasingly relevant element in international discussions on climate change, such as the aforementioned Conference of the Parties (COP). At the end of July 2025, a pre-COP 30 meeting was held in Brasilia, the 5th Global Conference on Climate and Health, where a document was agreed upon to be presented at COP 30, entitled ‘Belém Health Action Plan for the adaptation of the health sector to climate change’, which is based on three lines of action for adaptation to climate change and the development of climate-resilient health systems: follow-up and monitoring, evidence-based policies, and production and innovation mechanisms.
The Global Climate and Health Alliance has presented a report entitled "From Cradle to Grave: The Impact of Fossil Fuels on Health and the Imperative for a Just Transition," which shows the relationship between the entire fossil fuel cycle, from extraction to disposal, and its persistent impact on people's health throughout all stages of life, affecting the most vulnerable populations in particular.
It is important for people to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between climate and health. If the population perceives that their health is at risk, this can be an important factor in preventing delays in taking the measures that need to be taken as soon as possible. But fear alone has never been enough to get communities to really take action, as it paralyses many people and creates resistance. We need much more clear and concrete evidence, a discourse that includes hope and alternatives, and, finally, the possibility for both professional and citizen communities to participate, allowing them to be part of the solution and not just part of the problem.