Climate COPs remain alarmingly exposed to lobbyists, unlike most global health and anti-corruption bodies that have safeguards to limit interference

Most countries’ climate action plans refer to the health benefits of adaptation and mitigation strategies, such as reduced air pollution, but few actually track them. And as World Environment Day is observed Thursday, global climate commitments remain extraordinarily weak.

Clean air is a fundamental right, not a privilege. Yet as the World Health Organization’s second global conference on air pollution and health opens in Cartagena, Colombia, millions of people globally are breathing toxic air with devastating health consequences.

Shweta Narayan, a campaign lead at the Global Climate and Health Alliance, said many of the regions witnessing the worst air pollution are also places where planet-heating gases are released extensively through the burning of coal, oil and gas. Slashing planet-warming emissions to slow the heating up of the planet can also improve air quality, she said.

Global Climate and Health Alliance quoted: “Extreme temperatures — mostly heat — are projected to kill as many as 2.3 million people in Europe by the end of the century unless countries get better at reducing carbon pollution and adapting to hotter conditions, a new study says.”

Press coverage of the Global Climate and Health Alliance during COP29:

“The health case for a just transition away from fossil fuels is really clear,” declared Jeni Miller, of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, which co-sponsored the session.

CAN COP29 DELIVER ON HEALTH? It’s climate week in New York and, for the first time, health is one of the themes. And not before time — 2 billion people, or 25 percent of the world’s population, have experienced 30 days of heat that put their health at risk, the Global Climate and Health Alliance warned on Tuesday.

“Governments must prepare to deliver a commitment at COP28 to phase out all fossil fuels, and a just transition to renewable energy for all,” Miller said.

Press coverage of the Global Climate and Health Alliance during SB60 Climate Summit in Bonn: Devex Opinion: To make health a global priority, move away from fossil fuels  Econoticias: Hoy arranca la reunión sobre el clima de Bonn con el cambio climático como...

We’re honoured to see our Healthy NDC Scorecard quoted extensively on page 32 of the UNDESA and UNFCCC publication Synergy Solutions for a World in Crisis: Tackling Climate and SDG Action Together, launched on September 13, 2023

“The extraction and use of coal, oil and gas harm people’s health, are the primary driver of warming and are incompatible with a healthy climate future. That’s all the more reason that governments must prepare to deliver a commitment at Cop28 to phase out all fossil fuels, and a just transition to renewable energy for all.”

“Absolutely zero progress was made [at COP27] on a commitment to fully phase out fossil fuels, and without tackling the major root cause of the climate crisis, we cannot fully protect health,” said Jeni Miller, executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance. “There wasn’t any progress made on that. They just repeated the same language as at COP 26.”

Here’s a roundup of some of the top media coverage achieved by the Global Climate and Health Alliance during COP27.