Belém, Brazil I November 18, 2025 – At COP30, physicians, nurses, and health and medical students representing millions of health workers worldwide issued an urgent call for countries to support a global commitment to Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF). Speaking at the joint “Health Leaders Call for Life-Saving Transition Away from Fossil Fuels” press conference, experts stressed that TAFF is not simply a good climate and energy policy option: it is a public health imperative and the fastest public health intervention available to save lives.
The press conference, moderated by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment’s (CAPE) Health and Economic Policy Director, Leah Temper, and with speakers from CAPE and from prominent international health organizations including the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), and the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) reminded attendees that air pollution already causes over 7 million premature deaths annually, heatwaves increasingly threaten lives and livelihoods, and climate-driven disasters are pushing health systems to their breaking point.
The speakers emphasized that a TAFF commitment grounded in justice, as proposed by Brazil and a growing coalition of countries, is essential to protect both the climate and the communities who have long borne the greatest health burdens from fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels harm health from cradle to grave
Health leaders highlighted new evidence from Cradle to Grave: The Health Toll of Fossil Fuels and the Imperative for a Just Transition, showing that fossil fuels damage human health at every stage of their life cycle.
Pregnant women exposed to fossil fuel pollution face higher risks of pre-term birth, low birth weight, and congenital abnormalities. Children exposed to air polluted by fossil fuels suffer more asthma, respiratory infections, and developmental harms. Adults face increased rates of cardiovascular disease, respiratory distress, cancers, kidney and liver damage, and neurological conditions. Even after extraction sites and refineries close, their toxic legacy continues to poison air, soil, and water for decades.
Health inequities deepen without a just transition
Fossil fuels harm everyone, and over 99% of the world’s population breathes air that does not meet World Health Organization air quality guidelines. But the harms of fossil fuel extraction and processing fall hardest on Indigenous peoples, low-income communities, workers including health workers, and fence-line neighbourhoods around the world. While communities in every region of the world are facing growing threats from climate change, disadvantaged communities have fewer resources and less recourse, so are disproportionately impacted by climate-driven heatwaves, extreme weather, and infectious disease outbreaks. Furthermore, health systems that are already spread thin and underfunded, serving communities in the most vulnerable circumstances, will be the most impacted by this increased disease burden causing strain on their health workforces, health resources and abilities to deliver high quality care.
A decisive moment at COP30
While political resistance persists in some quarters, momentum behind TAFF is growing. Health leaders underscored that fossil fuels are incompatible with healthy futures and that health evidence strengthens the political case for transition: protecting health systems, reducing preventable diseases, and saving lives. By supporting TAFF, countries are choosing cleaner air, healthier communities, and stronger, more resilient health systems. “This is about preventing illness rather than treating its symptoms,” speakers stressed.
The coalition of health leaders is calling on governments to:
- At COP30, commit to developing a decisive roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels in line with the best available health and climate science.
- Commit to a rapid and just transition, ensuring protections and support for workers and communities most affected by fossil fuel extraction and climate impacts.
- Integrate health evidence into all climate decision-making, recognizing that delaying action on fossil fuels comes at an immense and preventable human cost.
- Strengthen health systems and health workforces to cope with rising climate-related health impacts while accelerating investments in clean energy and pollution reduction.
Quotes
Dr. Joe Vipond, Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
“Every year of delay means more asthma attacks, more cardiovascular emergencies, more cancers, and more premature deaths, all of them preventable. Transitioning away from fossil fuels isn’t just good climate policy: it’s life-saving health policy. Every delay means more preventable illness and more avoidable deaths.”
Dr. Courtney Howard, Vice-Chair, Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA)
“In 2023 wildfires forced the evacuation of our hundred-bed hospital down to Vancouver. The costs were staggering. Smoke from these fires circled the planet—exposing 354 million people to increased air pollution leading to over 82,000 premature deaths globally. We must adapt healthcare systems—but we will not be able to maintain high-quality healthcare along current emissions trajectories. There is no safety in a fossil-fuelled status quo. We must drive toward a clean-energy future with the same commitment we use in CPR, where we say: push hard, push fast, don’t stop.”
Gustavo Henrique Nicoletti Dalle Cort, International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA)
“As medical students, we will be the generation of doctors whose careers will be defined by responding to the impacts of climate change. We are aware that every degree of warming will make our jobs harder, it will make living with quality harder. Transitioning away from fossil fuels is the only option, to give us a future in which we can realistically keep our patients healthy.”
Gillian Adynski, International Council of Nurses (INC)
“We saw during COVID-19, and in every acute disaster from hurricanes to floods to heat waves, that it does not take much to overwhelm a health care system and, in turn, nursing and health workforces. If fossil fuel proliferation continues, our systems will be pushed past their limits. The health impacts will extend beyond direct illness to indirect harms like burned-out nurses, strained health workers, and destabilized and unsafe care. To protect health systems and the people who rely on them, we must stop the proliferation of fossil fuels.”
Visual/Interview Opportunities
The spokespeople will be available for photo/video and interviews in english, spanish and portuguese. For french interviews, please reach out to [email protected] for coordination with our bilingual physicians.
About CAPE
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is a physician-directed non-profit organization working to secure human health by protecting the planet. Since its founding in 1994, CAPE’s work has achieved substantial policy victories in collaboration with many partners in the environmental and health movements. From coast to coast to coast, the organization operates throughout the country with regional committees active in most provinces and all territories. cape.ca
About the Global Climate and Health Alliance
The Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) is a consortium of more than 200 health professional and health civil society organisations and networks from around the world addressing climate change. We are united by a shared vision of an equitable, sustainable future, in which the health impacts of climate change are minimised, and the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation are maximised. climateandhealthalliance.org
About the International Council of Nurses (ICN)
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of over 140 national nurses associations (NNAs), representing over 30 million nurses worldwide. Founded in 1899, ICN is the world’s first and widest reaching international organisation for health professionals.
About the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA)
The International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), founded in 1951, is one of the world’s oldest and largest student-run organisations. It represents, connects and engages every day with an inspiring and engaging network of 1.3 million medical students from 139 national member organizations in 130 countries around the globe.
Media contact
On the ground in Belém – Robb Barnes, Climate Program Director, [email protected], 613-276-5753
In Canada – Loujain Kurdi – Communications Manager | Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, 647-762-9168, [email protected]
In Europe – Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Global Climate and Health Alliance, [email protected], +34 691 826 764 (In Europe, available from 0630 CET)
