Health in NDC 3.0: From commitments to implementation
Online
Wednesday, 21 October 2026, 9:00 – 10:30 and 15:00 – 16:30 (CEST)
NDCs are national climate commitments that countries prepare and communicate under the Paris Agreement, with the aim of setting targets and actions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing climate adaptation and resilience. The current third generation NDCs (NDC 3.0), generally establish targets for 2035 with countries expected to ratchet up ambition in the next submission cycle in 2030.
Integrating health into NDCs is both an urgent necessity and a strategic opportunity. Considering health impacts is important to maximize the opportunity that countries have to identify adaptation options that protect and enhance health. These can include prioritizing heat-health action plans, climate-informed disease surveillance and early warning systems, and resilient health facilities and infrastructure. Considering health is also important to avoid inadvertently deepening health inequities through well-intentioned mitigation measures—for example, poorly designed biofuel or land-use policies may affect food availability or prices, while the removal of fossil-fuel subsidies can increase energy and transport costs for vulnerable households unless accompanied by appropriate social protection and other compensatory measures. At the same time, well-designed climate action can deliver substantial health co-benefits. For instance, phasing down fossil fuels and expanding clean renewable energy, promoting public and active transport, improving energy-efficient housing, and protecting or expanding urban green and blue spaces can support climate mitigation and adaptation while curbing mortality rates and various diseases, ranging from respiratory, cardiovascular to chronic illnesses. With the health sector accounting for an estimated 5.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, its own emissions should also be addressed as part of national climate action.
Most importantly, framing climate impacts in terms of lives saved, illnesses prevented, and health costs avoided makes the stakes of climate action tangible, strengthening public and political support for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation commitments.
Join us for a discussion on "Health in NDCs" in this ATACH Technical Meeting. The session aims to support dialogue and peer-to-peer sharing between ATACH country members, technical partners and other participants to advance climate-health action at the country level. In this context, the meeting will focus on sharing experiences and practical approaches both for NDC implementation and supporting strengthened integration of health in NDC implementation plans and future NDC submissions.
Registration links:
Please note: This Technical Meeting takes place twice, to accommodate different time zones. The content, except for the country case examples, is comparable between sessions. Participants may select whichever session best suits their schedule.
With interpretation in English, French, Arabic
21 October 2026, 9:00 – 10:30 (CEST)
With interpretation in English, Spanish, French
21 October 2026, 15:00 – 16:30 (CEST)
Tentative agenda:
Time | Agenda Item |
5 min | Welcome and housekeeping |
10 min | Context setting: Health in NDCs |
10 min | Launch of the WHO report “Ten years of the Paris Agreement: a global review of health in NDCs 3.0” |
10 min | Climate Promise: Forward (TBC) |
30 min | Country spotlights: NDC implementation |
10 min | Q&A with country representatives |
10 min | Assessing country priorities / Interactive session with participants |
5 min | Next steps and closing, including key priorities for the ATACH |