Health Policy Watch, June 3, 2025, by Elaine Fletcher:
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.
Only 21 countries out of the 195 parties to the UN Paris Agreement have submitted updated national climate action plans (Nationally Determined Commitments) through the year 2035 – nearly four months after the plans were due.
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Of those few countries that have submitted, most refer to the health benefits of mitigation strategies, such as reduced air pollution in general terms, while others make reference to health adaptation strategies.
But there continues to be a lack of clear tracking systems to monitor progress in achieving the desired health outcomes, according to a recent analysis by the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), a global network that mobilises the health community towards climate action.
The GCHA looked in depth at 11 countries’ national climate plans in different regions of the world and at diverse economic development levels – from Botswana to Panama, Japan and the United Kingdom. The assessment looked at a set of eight criteria, including references to health benefits from mitigation efforts, related financial commitments, and health sector adaptation initiatives.
