Health professionals and leaders from around the world will be attending the Global Health and Climate Conference on November 6th, during the COP26 UN climate change conference.
WHAT: 2021 Global Conference on Health and Climate Change (in-person and virtual event), on the margins of the COP26 UN climate change conference.
WHO: Keynote speakers include Ms Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland and Chair of The Elders; Ms Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of Wellcome Trust; Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, Dr Jeni Miller, Executive Director of Global Climate and Health Alliance, Professor Tahseen Jafry, Director of GCU’s Centre for Climate Justice, and ministers of health from several vulnerable countries (TBC).
Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor of the British Medical Journal, and Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Environment, Climate Change and Health Department, will moderate a series of conversations with high-level representatives from various sectors – including in energy, transport, nature, food systems, and finance – on the transformational actions needed in order to protect people’s health from climate change.
The Global Conference on Health & Climate Change is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), in close collaboration with the Glasgow Caledonian University and its Centre for Climate Justice, the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Wellcome Trust.
WHEN: Saturday, 06 November 2021, 9:00-17:30 GMT
WHERE: Glasgow Caledonian University (Cowcaddens Road, G4 0BA) and online via livestream (contact [email protected])
REGISTRATION: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-global-conference-on-health-and-climate-change-tickets-174565278447
WHY: COP26 is the first UN climate summit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With health dominating the global political agenda, health professionals and leaders worldwide are calling for transformational change to protect the health of people and the planet.
Unprecedented extreme weather events and other climate impacts are having a rising toll on people’s lives and health. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms and floods, kill thousands and disrupt millions of lives, while threatening healthcare systems and facilities when they are needed most. Changes in weather and climate are threatening food security and driving up food-, water- and vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, while climate impacts are also negatively affecting mental health.
Speakers will address the health impact of climate change and respond to the main findings of the WHO COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health, which makes 10 recommendations for climate action to assure a sustained recovery from COVID-19, as well as an open letter signed by over two thirds of the global health workforce – more than 45 million health professionals, and which calls for national leaders and COP26 country delegations to step up climate action. The letter will be delivered to world leaders on November 9th.
The 1-day conference will have a special focus on climate justice, as well as the need to prioritise a healthy and green recovery from COVID-19. The conference complements a rich programme of health events that is scheduled to take place throughout COP26.
Further information and provisional agenda: 2021 Global Conference on Health and Climate Change (who.int).
Remote connection via live-stream will be available; please RSVP to [email protected]
Media contacts:
Dave Walsh, Global Climate and Health Alliance media advisor, [email protected]
Also:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected] / 07717779394