Past Climate & Health Summits
Starting at COP17 in Durban and until COP26 in Glasgow, GCHA hosted or co-hosted Climate and Health Summits, alongside the UN Climate Talks. In GCHA’s first 10 years, we also held notable civil society events mounted jointly with partnering organizations throughout the year. Details, links to additional information and some recordings are available below.
Global Climate and Health Summit, Madrid, Spain, 2019
The 2019 Global Climate and Health Summit alongside COP25 in Madrid served as a central moment for health civil society and other stakeholders to help drive global action to protect health from a changing climate. Though the challenge is great, policy responses to climate change present an unprecedented opportunity for public health, such as by reducing air pollution which is responsible for 7 million premature deaths annually. As impacts of climate change are increasingly felt, the movement of health professionals and health organizations addressing climate change around the world is growing.
The Summit was organized and hosted by the Global Climate and Health Alliance and the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; the University of California-San Fracisco’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, Global Health Group; Harvard University’s Global Health Institute; and the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare.
Chilean National Workshop of the Global Climate and Health Summit – A parallel event took place in Santiago, Chile on December 6th, convened by Colegio Médico, the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS), the Epidemiological Society of Chile, the School of Public Health at the University of Chile, and the Sustainable Chile program, in collaboration with the WHO and the Global Climate and Health Alliance. This one-day workshop led a nationally focused discussion of the themes jointly developed by Chilean and international partners for the Global Summit. Outcomes of the National Workshop were presented via video at the Global Summit in Madrid the following day.
Learn more about the 2019 Global Climate and Health Summit.
Global Climate and Health Summit, Katowice, 2018
The 2018 Climate and Health Summit was part of a Day of Climate and Health, hosted at the University of Silesia alongside COP24. In the morning program, health representatives from Poland and across the world debated Climate change and health – which role for the health sector in Poland? The health threats of climate change are increasingly being discussed, especially following the extreme weather events this summer, with heatwaves in Poland and all over Europe. The morning conference was organised by HEAL, in collaboration with the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), Pro Silesia Association and the Polish Climate Coalition.
In the afternoon, the annual Global Climate and Health Summit served as a key anchoring event for advancing health-focused action, engagement and collaboration to address climate change in the context of the UN climate negotiations. The Summit furthered the Call to Action on Climate and Health, launched during September’s Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco; and featured an in-depth discussion of the COP24 Special Report on Health and Climate Change, delivered by the World Health Organization to the UNFCCC at COP24, at the request of COP23 Fijian president. At the event, the World Health Organization Director-General announced the formation of a WHO-civil society working group on climate change and health. See the WHO Director-General’s video statement.
The Summit was co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the European Committee of the Regions, and the Pro Silesia Association, together with GCHA member and partnering organizations.
Global Climate and Health Forum, San Francisco, September 2018
Health Action for Climate and Climate Action for Health
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 organizations to build the community of climate and health professionals, share global success stories of health action for climate, and generate momentum and commitments for action on climate and health.
The Forum, which highlighted the commitments of health sector leaders worldwide to reduce carbon pollution and build healthy, resilient communities, culminated in the launch of a Call to Action on Climate and Health. This Call to Action, endorsed by over 70 leading health organizations representing 5 million health professionals and 17,000 hospitals and health systems, outlines ten priority recommendations the health community can take to advance human well-being in the era of climate change.
The Forum was organized by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the Global Health Group at UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, Health Care Without Harm, and the US Climate and Health Alliance.
Learn more about the Health Forum alongside the Global Climate Action Summit.
Climate and Health Summit, Bonn, 2017
Ramping up Action on Climate and Health in Cities and Regions
The 2017 Climate and Health Summit, alongside the 23rd UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Bonn, Germany, focused on action in cities and regions to advance action on climate change and health and build momentum for increased ambition in climate commitments. Through an engaged series of plenary presentations, and dynamic interactive sessions, participants explored the role of the health sector in strengthening health systems, advocating for policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change and to decarbonize energy systems, and in providing the research that will track progress on climate change and health.
The event’s Summary of Proceedings report includes summary of the plenary presentations and the interactive World Cafe sessions, Summit PowerPoint presentations, and excellent resources to go deeper on each topic and session.
The 2017 Summit was co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the Global Climate and Health Alliance, and the Health and Environment Alliance, together with GCHA member and partnering organizations.
Learn more about the Health Summit at COP23.
Download the Summary of Proceedings.
Climate and Health Summit, Paris, 2015
The 2015 Climate and Health Summit focused on Engaging with Health in a Post-2015 World, and it brought together health professionals, policymakers, negotiators, academics and other members of the international community to find and develop answers to the overarching question, “How can public health change the conversation on climate change in a post-2015 world?”
Learn more about the Health Summit at COP21.
View the 2015 Summit Programme, and access the Summit PowerPoint presentations.
Climate and Health Summit, Lima, 2014
The 2014 Climate and Health Summit was a great success, with speakers including Rachel Kyte, vice president of the World Bank Group, Anibal Velasquez Valdivia, Minister of Health for Peru and Daniele Violetti, UNFCCC Chief of Staff.
Learn more about the Health Summit at COP20.
Access Summit PowerPoint presentations.
Civil society event “Action on Climate Change and Health”, New York, September 2014
Watch the videos online (registration required)
Learn more about the Civil Society Event
NCDFREE Bootcamp, London, October 2014
Climate and Health Summit, Warsaw, 2013
The Climate and Health Summit convened in parallel with the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Summit aimed to coordinate action across all sectors to protect human health from the impacts of climate change, and developed a roadmap for the international health community to work towards in the run up to the 2015 climate conference in Paris. The Summit was organized by the Global Climate and Health Alliance in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Alliance, which consists of health organizations from around the world, was formed in Durban, South Africa, in 2011, during UNFCCC COP 17, to tackle climate change and to protect and promote public health.
date: 16 November 2013 venue: Marriott Hotel, Al. Jerozolimskie 65/79
Event Summary from the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations
Global Climate and Health Summit, Durban, 2011
The first annual Global Climate and Health Summit took place in Durban, in 2011 and was the occasion of the founding of the Alliance. The event was organised by two of GCHA’s founding member organisations, Health Care Without Harm and the Climate and Health Council. Read the Durban Declaration and Call to Action from the Summit.