What:CO30 Global March for Health & Climate
Time: 1700 Belém, 11 November 2025
Location: Embaixada dos Povos, Av. Duque de Caxias, 852 – Marco, Belém. Map.
Organizer: Medicos pelo Clima, Grupo de Trabalho Amazónico and many other organizations from the Health and Climate Network – Brazil
Where: The group is departing from the Embassy of the Peoples and marching to the Blue Zone and back.
Doctors, nurses, therapists, students, and representatives of indigenous peoples, women’s and youth organizations will take to the streets of Belém (PA) on November 11th to defend an increasingly urgent issue: health is directly affected by the climate crisis.
The mobilization will take place during the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference ( COP30 ) and is organized by the Doctors for Climate Movement, conceived by the Ar Institute, and the Amazon Working Group (GTA). Also participating in the mobilization will be the Manas da Periferia movement, the Coletivo Pororoka, and the Sustainable Health Movement, as well as organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
Before the march begins, the official launch of the Health and Climate Network – Brazil will take place at the People’s Embassy.
Organized by Medicos Pelo Clima, Grupo de Trabalho Amazonico, in association with Projeto Hospitais Saúdeveis, Médecins Sans Frontières, Health Care Without Harm, Global Climate and Health Alliance, and many more.
On-the-Ground Contacts:
Milena Sergeeva, Global Climate and Health Alliance Liaison Officer for Latin America: [email protected], +56 9 9539 1010
DePropósito Comunicação de Causas
[email protected] (+41) 99232-4904
Remote press Contact (Europe):
Dave Walsh, Communications Advisor, Global Climate and Health Alliance, [email protected], +34 691 826 764 (Available from 0630 CET)
About GCHA
The Global Climate and Health Alliance 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.
Find out more: https://climateandhealthalliance.org/who-we-are/about/
PRESS RELEASE:
Organizations and health professionals will hold a historic event in the streets of Belém during COP30
Unprecedented mobilization will bring together doctors, nurses, students, organizations and social movements on November 11 to break the silence on health in climate negotiations
Doctors, nurses, therapists, students and representatives of social organizations will take to the streets of Belém (PA), on November 11, to defend an increasingly urgent point: health is directly affected by the climate crisis.
The mobilization will take place during the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) and is organized by the Doctors for Climate Movement, conceived by the Ar Institute, and the Amazon Working Group (GTA). The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) of the Ministry of Health, Manas da Periferia, Coletivo Pororoka, Movimento Saúde Sustentável, 350.org Brasil, Avaaz, Hospitais Saudáveis, Instituto Paraense de Desenvolvimento, Grupo de Trabalho de Saúde Planetária, as well as international organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Global Climate and Health Alliance, Red Clima y Salud, Centro Internacional de Água e Transdisciplinaridade (CIRAT), International Pesticide Standard Alliance (IPSA) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) will also be part of the mobilization.
For physician Evangelina Araújo, Ambassador of the Doctors for Climate Movement and executive director of the Instituto Ar, the march is a response to the historical absence of the health sector in decision-making spaces on climate. “The climate crisis is also an emergency health crisis that will impact millions of Brazilians. The march aims to draw attention to the need for immediate action to protect our people, especially the most vulnerable,” she says.
The executive director of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, Jeni Miller, emphasizes that talking about COP is talking about people. “When national representatives participate in the COP30 negotiations, they may think they are discussing carbon emissions or the economic costs and impacts of climate action. In reality, they are negotiating people’s lives. Every decision they make, whether on fossil fuels, financing and monitoring of adaptation, or on the principles that underpin a just transition, such as how agriculture and land use should be managed or the prevention of conflicts of interest, has direct consequences for people’s health now and in the future. Each negotiator has the opportunity to play a historic role in ensuring a healthy future for the people of all countries. That is what is fundamentally at stake at COP.”
Health was relegated to the background in climate negotiations
Danielle Cruz, coordinator of the Sustainable Health Movement, believes that the debate on health has always appeared as a secondary theme in climate conferences. “The environment needs to be seen as part of health promotion and not just as a source of diseases that will then be treated in hospitals.” According to Danielle, the march is also a way to put pressure on health professionals in the Amazon region and its peripheries to be heard in climate decisions. “We are talking about populations that are already living with the consequences of the environmental crisis. It is here that people face drought, flooding, lack of fish, water contamination, and wildfires that aggravate respiratory problems. This impacts the lives, livelihoods, and health of entire communities.”
Danielle emphasizes that health, climate, and social justice are interconnected issues. “We want standing forests, but also living and healthy people. We want climate to be treated as a determining factor in health. We want sustainability with social justice and not just technical protocols that are far removed from the reality of most of the Brazilian population. We are mobilizing to make this happen.”
At Doctors Without Borders, the consequences of the climate crisis on vulnerable populations are witnessed daily. “There are many examples. The physical and mental health of these people has been affected by advancing rainwater and seawater, droughts and wildfires, and diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that are now spreading faster and are in places where they did not previously reach. And the change in rainfall patterns also affects crops and food security, causing malnutrition,” explains the executive director of Doctors Without Borders Brazil, Renata Reis. “For all these reasons, it is more than urgent that discussions about health have a place in the COP negotiations,” she concludes.
Climate change exacerbates diseases and affects ways of life in the Amazon
In the Amazon, the effects of the crisis are even more intense. “Indigenous, riverside, and traditional populations see their ways of life threatened by severe droughts, extreme floods, and loss of biodiversity. The scarcity of fish, water contamination, and the increase in vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are increasingly frequent realities. In addition, deforestation and fires aggravate respiratory problems and compromise public health,” says Sila Mesquita, general coordinator of the Amazon Working Group.
Between August 2024 and June 2025, the area under deforestation alert in the Amazon grew by 8.4% compared to the previous year, according to the National Institute for Space Research. During this period, there was a 245.7% increase in areas affected by fire, a direct reflection of the fire season that affected the biome and which, according to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, is linked to the worsening of climate change. “It is impossible to think about climate justice without considering the health of these populations and the need for specific policies that protect their territories, knowledge, and ways of life in the face of an increasingly hostile climate scenario,” adds Sila.
The march will take place on the eve of World Health Day
The Global Health and Climate March will take place during the week of World Health Day at COP30, scheduled for November 13, when the topic of health is expected to gain prominence in the debates. In addition to street mobilization, there will be self-organized activities with activist workshops, distribution of educational materials, and engagement actions. “For RD Saúde, a supporter of the action, health and climate go hand in hand. Our support for the Doctors for Climate Movement reinforces our mission to promote comprehensive well-being and to act in the face of the challenges of the climate crisis that directly impact people’s lives,” says Giuliana Ortega, the company’s Sustainability Director.
Service – Global Health and Climate March
Date: November 11th (Tuesday)
Time: Gathering at 5 PM (Belém time)
Location: Embassy of the Peoples (Av. Duque de Caxias, 860 – Fátima, Belém – PA)
Route: 1.5 km to the COP30 Blue Zone (City Park)
Press Information
DePropósito Comunicação de Causas
[email protected]
(+41) 99232-4904
