WHO 156th Executive Board

3-11 February 2025

Agenda Item 22 - Climate Change & Health

EU Statement

Chair, Director-General, Excellencies, Colleagues,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its 27 Member States.

The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova[*] and Georgia as well as Armenia align themselves with this statement.

Climate change is an unprecedented challenge to global health and health systems. We recognize the immense human, social, environmental and economic costs of climate change. Recent data by World Economic Forum shows that by 2050, unrestrained climate change could result in an additional 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic losses. In addition, a warmer climate creates favourable conditions for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases and increases their risks. The causes and effects of climate change such as extreme weather events and air, water and soil pollution from fossil fuels and chemicals, such as PFAS and the excessive use of pesticides, as well as unhealthy diets and unsustainable food systems, threaten global health and exacerbate existing health and gender inequalities. This calls for urgent and coordinated global action.

The EU fully supports and commends WHO’s leadership on climate change and health. We are grateful for the progress made under the Climate Change and Health resolution adopted during WHA77, and pleased that the revised draft Global Plan of Action (GPoA) aligns with the WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment and Climate Change and the 14^th General Programme of Work (GPW 14).

The EU also remains committed to continued progress on climate adaptation overall, to building capacity towards the global research agenda and to the development of national adaptation plans. To maximise health benefits in such adaptation efforts, we must:

(i) create a robust and relevant evidence-base that explores connections between climate change and health determinants, universal health coverage and health emergencies;

(ii) adopt a “Health in All Policies” approach in national and subnational climate policies, strategies, and plans as intended in the EU Strategy for Global Health.

We encourage health centred, cross sectoral cooperation, guided by the One Health Approach, acknowledging the interlinkages of human, animal and environmental health.

The EU endorses the COP28 Declaration on climate and health and welcomes the active involvement of WHO Europe in the European Climate and Health Observatory. Through partnerships, the Observatory contributes to building resilience by providing data and tools to address climate-driven health risks.

We also look forward to the outcomes of the work of the WHO Secretariat, in terms of developing clear norms, standards, policy guidance and capacity building in countries to reduce carbon emissions from the health sector, as outlined in the GPW14. We hope for ambitious common targets and strong engagement with sectors such as food and beverages, transport and energy. In the EU, we are actively working to decarbonize healthcare systems, and we urge all stakeholders to promote steps to curb emissions and reduce waste in the health sector, including supply chains. We also welcome the promotion and development of the Alliance for Action on Climate Change and Health as a key voluntary platform to support the implementation of climate change and health interventions, and call on all member states to join the Alliance.

In the current financial context we must prioritize essentials. For a start, we ask WHO to inform us how many people in WHO work on climate change and health and how many funds are available.

The EU commends WHO for its efforts, alongside the Quadripartite organisations, to integrate climate change and health perspectives as well as transformative actions, through whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches.

We thank the WHO for its essential work on Climate Change & Health and look forward to further consultations on the Global Action Plan on jointly implementing the resolution on climate change and health.

Thank you, Chair.

[*] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.