The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare's Response To The World Health Assembly's Resolution On Climate Change And Health
On 30 May 2024, the Global Climate and Health Alliance adopted a landmark resolution on Climate Change and Health during the World Health Assembly (WHA). 194 World Health Organisation (WHO) member states voted to adopt this resolution which specifically acknowledges climate change as a major threat to public health and sets out a framework to promote healthcare as part of the climate change agenda and build climate resilient and sustainable health systems.
The 77th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva in Switzerland, saw a record focus on the threat climate change poses to public health and underscored the major paradigm shift in political opinion on the need to make healthcare more sustainable, something CSH has been urging for many years. The need to scale the decision making process and make climate action a specific public health priority is no longer just a theoretical talking point, and 194 member states declared in a consensus that action was needed now in order to protect the public from the increasing health impacts of climate change, something that the adoption of this landmark resolution on Climate Change and Health drives home.
Rachel Stancliffe, CEO and Founder of CSH, said, “This is excellent news, which demonstrates unanimous recognition of the climate challenges that governments around the world need to address, decisively and immediately, to protect public health and healthcare systems. We particularly welcome the call from the WHO to increase support for developing countries, to build climate-resilient healthcare systems and adapt to the health impacts of climate change.”
Acknowledging The Link Between Climate And Health
The Global Climate and Health Alliance's resolution is a historic landmark in the fight to make healthcare more sustainable. The importance of the formal acknowledgement that climate change does have a profound impact on public health, that the evidence has been set out and is incontrovertible, and that urgent and actionable frameworks are needed to make change cannot be understated. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, pollution and shifting ecological patterns are not just envioronmental issues, they directly affect human health by increasing the prevalence of and exacerbating diseases and straining healthcare systems.
Key Points Of The Resolution
- Recognition of health impacts: The resolution explicitly acknowledges how climate change contributes to a range of health problems and issues.
- Call for urgent action: It urges all member states to integrate sustainability into their health policies and consider health as an important part of their climate action plans.
- Joining ATACH: Calls on national governments to actively participate in the Alliance for Action on Climate Change and Health (ATACH) – a WHO-led platform for collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and best practices.
- Focus on vulnerable populations: The resolution highlights inequity as a significant problem and calls for targeted interventions to protect vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and low income communities from the harmful, disporoportionate effects of climate change.
- Promotion of sustainable practices: It advocates for the full and significant adoption of sustainable practices within the healthcare sector.
Implications For Global Health Policy
This resolution is a significant step forward in aligning climate action with global public health poilicies. It sets the stage for all WHO member states to prioritise health in their climate strategies, ensures that it is kept at the top of the agenda and ultimately, that public health systems are better prepared in the future to deal with the consequences of a changing climate.
The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare's Response To The Resolution On Climate Change And Health
The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) welcomes the adoption of the resolution on Climate Change and Health by 194 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO). This landmark resolution, which was adopted by consensus at the recent World Health Assembly, sets out unequivocally the threat of climate change to global public health and the urgent need for national governments to build climate-resilient and sustainable healthcare systems.
Does The Resolution Go Far Enough?
Unfortunately the resolution is not yet legally binding, but it was unanimously voted in after being proposed by the Netherlands and Peru, with support from an international coalition of 37 co-sponsor member states led by Barbados, Kenya, Fiji and the United Kingdom, with a diverse coalition of partner organisations including universities; professional societies and national, regional and global civil society organizations, all bringing unique and diverse perspectives to the table. This international collaboration is an extremely important step and reflects the urgent need to respond to the health impacts of climate change and the need for a coordinated global response.
This is a powerful step forward that CSH believes is essential in bringing sustainability and healthcare together. Through meaningful partnerships and robust education, we can bring a diverse set of perspectives, experience and expertise together to work toward a solution.
David Cameron, Education Director at CSH, said, “Professional education and training is a prerequisite for bringing about lasting institutional change, by increasing awareness, developing new skills and building confidence. CSH offers a diverse and flexible portfolio of educational programmes to support our mission, and we welcome and support the call in this resolution for national strategies to be implemented on capacity building of healthcare professionals and the provision of training on the interdependence between climate change and healthcare.”
While some key issues were absent from the text, notably the use of fossil fuels as opposed to renewable energy as a matter of importance to public health, and there was little in the way of specifics on how each member state can integrate climate change into national health policies and public health into national climate plans, it is clear that the will is there to not only recognise that the two issues are interlinked, but to take action. This is a sea change in political will and public perception, and one that CSH has been campaigning tirelessly for.
CSH has built a reputation over the last 16 years as a global thought leader in sustainable healthcare, through research, partnership activities and the provision of education, training and resources. Through this work, CSH supports healthcare professionals and organisations around the world to reach Net Zero and achieve wider environmental, social and financial sustainability, and by concentrating on powerful partnerships and a ground up approach to education, CSH has broadened the focus of sustainable healthcare from estates and energy use, to encompass clinical pathways and models of healthcare that enhance patient outcomes.
CSH is a partner within the international Alliance for Action on Climate Change and Health (ATACH) within the WHO, and has contributed to recent international conferences, including COP26 in Glasgow.
Next Steps
The adoption of the the Global Climate and Health Alliance resolution by the WHA is a significant call to action for the governments of all member states, health organisations and communities worldwide. It showcases the fact that the effect of climate change on public health is no longer just theoretical, it is very real and very visible, and that mitigating climate change is a vital public health strategy as well as an environmental one.
The World Health Organization is now expected to work on developing the Global Plan of Action on Climate Change and Health (GPoA) following the WHA77 meeting, adopted at the WHA78 in May 2025, and become climate neutral by 2030. This is something CSH is in full support of and is ready to support the furthering of this resolution and to keep pushing for further change.
As we move forward from the resolution made at the WHA, we must ensure that the pressure is maintained on all member organisations to actually impose and implement these recomendations. To do so, it is essential that all communities, industries, governments and stakeholders work together to ensure the health of the planet and its inhabitants too. As a consequence of this resolution, CSH will expand its efforts to work with international partners, building on new and existing relationships to support healthcare professionals, organisations and systems to address the urgent and global challenges of climate change.