Build and support climate and health networks
GCHA builds, coordinates and supports several climate and health networks. Read more about these networks below.
The WHO-Civil Society Working Group for Action on Climate Change and Health
The WHO-Civil Society Working Group for Action on Climate Change and Health aims to foster a strong and sustained health voice, informing decision-making on the climate crisis nationally and internationally, and driving urgent action on climate change. Members of the group work to increase health sector engagement in climate change mitigation and adaptation and to tackle the climate crisis through health care systems reform, research, peer education, advocacy, emergency response, and policy development.
The Working Group was established in 2019 by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. It is co-chaired by the WHO Assistant Director-General for Healthier Populations, and the Executive Director of GCHA, Jeni Miller. To date, GCHA is the only civil-society co-chair of a WHO working group.
Youth Climate and Health Network
The Youth Climate and Health Network (YCHN) was launched in May 2023 to elevate the global youth voice for a healthy future. The network supports young people around the world who care about the health of people and the planet to connect with each other with the goal of creating a platform that facilitates solidarity, care, and collective action from a health and climate justice perspective. The network was created in collaboration with a founding committee of eleven young leaders who brought their skills, talent, wisdom, experience, vision and insight to the project.
The network is coordinated and guided with the support of the GCHA secretariat team and currently has more than 200 members. Anyone aged between 18-35 who is ready to drive meaningful change for global climate justice and health can apply to join the network. Youth focused organisations are also able to become organisational network members.
Latin America and Caribbean Climate and Health Network
The Latin American and Caribbean Climate and Health Network (La Red de Clima y Salud de América Latina y el Caribe) was launched in 2021 to elevate the voice of the climate and health community across the region. The network supports regional climate and health actors- including academic institutions, NGOs and advocacy groups- to connect and collaborate around regional focused climate and health activities and events. The network is coordinated with the support of the GCHA secretariat and currently has 35+ organisational members.
Health and Climate Network (2021-2023)
The Health and Climate Network (HCN) was hosted by GCHA from 2021 to 2023 and was a community of experts and organisations working together to advocate for health-centred climate policy. The HCN community co-created policy to influence global decision making and held events, workshops and seminars to build its community and advocate together for healthy climate action. The network also supported its members to communicate policy messages at a national level and to sectoral audiences. Learn more below.
