Climate change and health

The climate crisis is a global health crisis, with human-induced climate change leading to extreme weather events, disease outbreaks and the undermining of health systems and determinants. Despite increases in climate finance since 2020, funding remains inadequate – especially for developing countries – and less than 1% is directed towards health protection. The disconnect between climate change policy and health leaves populations vulnerable and misses opportunities for creating a healthier, more sustainable future.

In response, the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA77.14 (2024) calling for a “global WHO plan of action on climate change and health within existing resources, as feasible, that is coherent with the text of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement for consideration by the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in 2025, firmly integrating climate across the technical work of WHO at all three levels of the Organization and emphasizing the need for cross-sectoral cooperation, as appropriate”. The implementation of the draft Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health allows WHO to strengthen its ongoing work and mandate, in line with the WHO Global Strategy on Health, Environment and Climate Change, as well as the Fourteenth General Programme of Work, 2025–2028 (GPW 14), adopted in resolution WHA77.1 (2024).