The COP’s first ever health day started with a clarion call from the WHO Director-General echoing the call of 46 million health professionals for a just transition away from fossil fuels, and ended with the announcement of 127 countries endorsing the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, with China among the four newest signatories – a packed day and certainly a cause for celebration with a healthy beverage. It’s clear there is support for health to have a home at the COP even if it took 29 long years! Health can be an accelerator for climate action, putting the reality of human lives at the heart of ambition.
The Declaration makes clear that healthy climate action must include and go beyond the health sector. It describes the importance of health finance and partnering with communities, but doesn’t go quite as far as naming the ultimate addiction and greatest threat to human health – fossil fuels. Human rights are a glaring omission, despite the right to health already being recognised in the Paris Agreement and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment embedded in the COP27 cover decision.
A total of 1 billion USD for climate and health was pledged during yesterday’s WCAS Health Segment, with the potential to propel much needed action. If this climate finance is to truly serve health, ECO hopes that the majority is new and additional finance — not diverted from other climate, health and development priorities — and that it will be based on grants, not loans, to avoid reinforcing vicious cycles of debt, poverty, and disease.
So what next? Words about health will do little sitting on the pages of the Declaration. All 125 signatory Parties must lift them off the page and into the negotiations. The outcomes of COP28 can only be healthy with ambitious climate action across the negotiations. No health justice without climate justice – no health without climate action. This must include the phase out of all fossil fuels and a just transition to affordable, accessible, healthy, renewable energy; the adoption of thematic targets and indicators under the GGA – including for health – to show where gaps in adaptation exist and to protect the world from pandemics; the transformation of food systems including through healthy and sustainable diets; and climate finance, including a capitalised loss and damage fund.
Health Day was a first time, and a first step. ECO will watch carefully for what comes next.