Second global conference on health and climate

Second global conference on health and climate

Attendees at this conference on 7th-8th July 2016 will discover ways in which the public health community is supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement, with a view to building healthier, more resilient societies.  

Background

The Paris Agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015, marks the beginning of a new era in the global response to climate change. The world now has a global climate agreement  - that will have a major public health policy impact as countries take action. As stated in the Agreement, “the right to health”, will be central to the actions taken.

The Agreement not only sets ambitious aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming well below 2°C, it also commits countries to strengthen adaptation.  This includes implementing plans that should protect human health from the worst impacts of climate change, such as air pollution, heat waves, floods and droughts, and the ongoing degradation of water resources and food security. It commits countries to finance clean and resilient futures in the most vulnerable countries. Through monitoring and revision of national contributions every five years, the world will begin to see improvements not only in the environment, but also in health, including reductions in the more than 7 million deaths worldwide that are attributed to air pollution every year.

To build on this historic opportunity, WHO, and the Government of France, holding the Presidency of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will jointly host the Second Global Conference on Health and Climate: Building Healthier Societies through implementation of the Paris Agreement.