How health can support ambitious implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Wellcome believes that putting health at the heart of climate action offers the most direct path to a future where everyone, everywhere, can thrive. 

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the primary tools that governments use to translate the landmark Paris Agreement into national climate action. While we have seen progress made in the decade following the Paris talks, current NDCs lack the ambition and urgency needed to keep the 1.5°C warming target within reach. 

COP30 in Belém, Brazil marked a shift from target-setting to policy implementation. This report highlights a critical opportunity to embed health into climate action plans. A health-centred approach helps to ensure that climate ambition achieves healthier, fairer and more resilient communities. It will also assist in creating the public support and political will needed to not only fully implement current commitments, but go further, ensuring that today’s targets are the floor, not the ceiling, of what can be achieved this decade.