Coordinate marches and calls to action
GCHA unites and mobilises the global health community around marches, open letters and calls to action. Learn more below.
Over the years GCHA has organised or engaged in several marches, calls to action and letters to decision makers demanding action on climate and health. Key past activities include:
December 2023, COP28 Open Letter on fossil fuels from the Global Medical and Health Community
In December 2023, during the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference GCHA and Health Care Without Harm coordinated the drafting of an open letter to COP 28 President-Designate Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber on behalf of the health community calling for an accelerated, just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels and investment in a renewable energy transition.
September 2023, The health community joins march to end fossil fuel use
In September 2023, GCHA in coordination with Physicians for Social Responsibility organised for members of the health community to join a march to end fossil fuel use, which took place during NY Climate Week.
The health community joins march to end fossil fuels during NY Climate Week, 2023. Skyler Knutzen, 2023
September 2022, Health professionals call for a fossil fuel treaty
In September 2022 GCHA, the World Health Organization and partners coordinated a letter on behalf of the health community (350+ health organisations across the globe) demanding that governments lay out a legally binding global plan (Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty) to phase out fossil fuel use.
May 2022, A call to strengthen climate change education for all health professionals
In 2022, members of the WHO-Civil Society Working Group to Advance Action on Climate Change and Health, which is co-chaired by the Executive Director of GCHA, Jeni Miller, released an open letter calling on all education stakeholders to ensure health professionals are prepared to identify, prevent, and respond to the health impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.
Photo credit: Pixabay/ Pexels
2021, #HealthyClimate Prescription
Around the COP26 UN climate change conference, GCHA and the World Health Organization coordinated for the health community around the world to send an open letter to national leaders and country delegations, calling for rapid and strong action to address the climate crisis. 600+ organizations representing over 46 million health workers, together with over 3,400 individuals from 102 different countries, signed the open letter and as part of the initiative GCHA also produced a short video featuring testimonies and calls to action from 25 health workers from around the world, who have borne witness to climate-related health impacts on their patients.
May 2020, calling on G20 leaders for a #HealthyRecovery from the COVID-19 pandemic
Around the G20 Summit in 2020, Health professionals and their associations sent an urgent letter to G20 leaders requesting that they put public health at the core of COVID-19 economic recovery plans. The letter called for a healthy recovery from the pandemic that recognized the health impacts of the climate crisis. This was the largest mobilisation of the global health community for climate action since the run-up to the 2015 Paris climate agreement and over 350 organisations representing over 40 million health professionals, and over 4,500 individual health professionals, from 90 different countries signed the letter.
The letter was supported and promoted by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, Every Breath Matters, and the World Health Organization in service of the global medical and health community.
September 2018, Call to Action on Climate and Health
On 12 September 2018, the Global Climate and Health Forum brought together 300 leaders from national and local governments, health systems, public health agencies, civil society, and international health organisations to build a community of climate and health professionals and generate momentum and commitments for action on climate and health.
The forum culminated in the launch of a Call to Action on Climate and Health which was endorsed by over 70 leading health organisations and outlined ten priority recommendations the health community can undertake to advance human well-being in the era of climate change.
The Forum was organised by GCHA, the Global Health Group at UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, Health Care Without Harm, and the US Climate and Health Alliance and took place alongside the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. Watch the event video here.
2019, Health4ClimateStrikes global marches
In September 2019, GCHA coordinated for several groups of health professionals around the world to join and support the student-led global climate strikes. More than 7 million people participated in the strikes and health professionals joined them all over the world – from Melbourne to Manila and Lisbon to Leeds.
Photo credit: Kaboompics/ Pexels
2015, GCHA spearheads a series of health sector declarations during COP21
During COP21, where the Paris Agreement was decided, GCHA spearheaded a series of declarations from the health sector on climate and health. Signatories represented more than 1700 health institutions, and 13 million health professionals. This unprecedented medical consensus demanded action to mitigate the climate crisis, enhance the adaptive capacity of communities and health systems, and improve decision-making processes around health and energy policy areas. Among these signatories were 41 health systems, inclusive of more than 8,200 hospitals and health systems, who had pledged to lead by example in reducing emissions and preparing for the impacts of climatic change.