Influence policy and legal strategies
Whilst 2023 saw rapid gains in renewable energy, increased momentum towards transforming food systems, growing health community engagement on the climate crisis, and the first ever mention of fossil fuels in the negotiated outcomes of the UN climate talks, there is still more work to be done. GCHA works with partners to influence and accelerate climate and health policy and decision making. See our ongoing and recent work to achieve this below.
United Nations Climate Change Conference: Coordinating and guiding the health community
Each year GCHA works to ensure that the health impacts of climate inaction, and benefits of climate action are recognised at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP). To achieve this we coordinate the health community in attendance at COP, organise and participate in side events and panel discussion, and engage and inform the health community on the importance of COP for health and key asks for policymakers.
COP 29 took place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11-22 November 2024. See more information about our work at COP 29 on our dedicated COP 29 webpage below.
World Health Assembly: Ensuring that the links between the climate crisis and health are recognized
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the annual meeting of the world’s ministries of health, hosted and convened by the World Health Organization to set global health policy.. In regard to climate change, it is an opportunity to ensure that the health impacts of the climate crisis and climate action are discussed and acted upon at the highest level of global health decision making. Each year GCHA works to raise the political profile of the links between human health and the climate crisis.
The 77th WHA took place from 27 May – 01 June 2024 and was a pivotal year for the climate crisis and health movement as it saw the adoption of a climate change WHA Resolution which outlines actions for member states and WHO to take on climate and health. Together with partners, the GCHA supported the process towards the negotiation and adoption of this resolution and developed an ambitious concept note outlining key elements of a possible resolution.
See the GCHA press release here for more details on outcomes and wins for climate and health at the 77th WHA.
Clean Air NDC Scorecard 2023
Air pollution and climate change are both driven by fossil fuel combustion. Meanwhile, climate change worsens existing air pollution. These interlinkages, and the impacts of poor air quality on human health, demonstrate the need to embed air quality actions in NDCs.
The 2023 Clean Air NDC Scorecard is a tool for policymakers developed by GCHA to help them assess whether actions to achieve clean air have been successful at the national level and assesses the integration of air quality considerations into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are country commitments to deliver the goal of the Paris Agreement, limiting global temperature rise to well below 2C, and preferably to 1.5C.
The Scorecard assesses and ranks 170 NDCs (by 169 countries, and the European Union, which submits a joint NDC) on their attention to five categories (health impacts, air pollution, source sectors, economics and finance, and bonus points), giving a total clean air score. This analysis serves as a barometer for the extent to which the links between air quality and climate change are recognised and being addressed at the national level.
Key findings from the 2023 Scorecard:
- Colombia and Mali lead on integration of air pollution considerations into their NDCs, followed by Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Nigeria.
- Six NDCs scored 0/15 points, namely Saudi Arabia (which features in the top ten global emitters for total emissions and per capita emissions), North Korea (which has the highest rate of air pollution mortality globally), Bahrain (the second-highest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases globally), Nauru, Palau and the Solomon Islands.
See the full 2023 Scorecard and more information, including country level analysis of the countries/regions analysed below.
Amicus Curiae brief submission to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 2023
Responding to the invitation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in December 2023 GCHA submitted an Amicus Curiae brief that highlights the importance of including health as an integral part of any plan to address the climate emergency and the threats it poses to the enjoyment of human rights. The submission by GCHA has received inputs and has been additionally endorsed by its Latin American Health & Climate Network as well as other esteemed health and environmental law organizations from across the region.
Download the submission at the links below and see more additional information on the webpage here.
Request for Advisory Opinion
Climate Emergency and Human Rights
WRITTEN COMMENTS (Amicus Curiae) SUBMITTED BY: Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) December 18th, 2023
Healthy NDCs Scorecard 2023
Ensuring the integration of health into climate policy protects populations, maximises economic benefits, and builds public backing for ambitious climate policies which are so urgently needed.
The GCHA Healthy NDCs Scorecard is a tool for policymakers produced by GCHA in 2021 and 2023 and assesses the extent to which governments’ national climate commitments recognise and respond to the abundant linkages with health.
The 2023 Scorecard ranks the consideration of health in the 58 NDCs submitted between 1st October 2021 and 23rd September 2022. NDCs were assessed based on their attention to six health categories: integrated governance, health impacts, health sector action, health co-benefits, economics and finance, and monitoring and implementation.
Key findings from the 2023 Scorecard:
- The vast majority of NDCs analysed (90%) refer to health and climate linkages to some extent.
- Burundi and Côte d’Ivoire, closely followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, State of Palestine, and Venezuela lead on the inclusion of health in their NDCs.
- The 16 highest scoring countries all were low- and middle- income countries.
- Australia, Japan, and New Zealand were among the countries which scored zero for inclusion of health.
- There is a mismatch between the focus on health in NDCs and the climate ambition of many Parties.
See the full 2023 Scorecard and more information, including country level analysis of the countries/regions analysed below.
Unmask My City project, 2017-2020
Unmask My City was a 4-year global initiative coordinated by GCHA in partnership with HEAL, UKHACC and the US Climate and Health Alliance that aimed to spur on policy action on air quality at the city and regional level. It was led by doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, and allied health professionals dedicated to improving air quality and reducing emissions in our cities. Recognizing that air pollution data is limited in most cities, the project encouraged doctors and health groups around the world to take charge and fill this data gap by monitoring air pollution themselves in vulnerable population areas. To highlight the personal risks posed by air pollution, Unmask My City developed a special LED light mask that changed colour according to live air pollution measurements. Using an AirBeam air quality monitor and AirCasting software the masks mapped PM2.5 particulate pollution, and visibly showed how good or bad the air was in real time.
From Warsaw to Chennai the project spanned the globe and received significant media coverage globally and featured in several leading media outlets around the world including The Guardian and The Hindu.
At the time the Unmask my City project was launched,14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world were found in India. Alongside the main initiative, a linked project called ‘Healthy Air Coalition’ was launched in Bengaluru, India with 40 air quality monitors set up across the city in order to provide publicly accessible data to assess the health burden of air pollution in Bengaluru and drive measures for improving air quality. The project saw health researchers, heart and lung doctors, public health institutes and patients concerned about the health risks from Bengaluru’s poor air quality join together to call for immediate action.
Other key policy engagement moments
Global Stocktake: The Global Stocktake (GST) is the UNFCCC process to monitor the implementation of the Paris Agreement, taking place every five years. GCHA worked to raise the profile of health in the first GST, including through making submissions with partners, delivering interventions and facilitating a thematic breakout discussion during official GST proceedings at COP27.
Sample joint submissions include those made in August 2022 and May 2023.