At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), a group of 50 countries have committed to developing climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems in response to growing evidence of the impact of climate change on people’s health.
The countries that have committed to achieving low-carbon, sustainable health systems include: Argentina, Fiji, Malawi, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and 39 others, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The future of health must be built on health systems that are resilient to the impacts of epidemics, pandemics and other emergencies, but also to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and the increasing burden of various diseases related to air pollution and our warming planet,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said, according to the WHO's website.
A majority of countries now include health in their national climate plans, which are part of the Paris Agreement, according to a WHO survey. A record number of health leaders are participating in the COP26.
