ATACH Online General Meeting October 2026
Category: Global
ATACH Online General Meeting: Charting the course from commitment to implementation
The Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) convened its Online General Meeting of Members on 20 October, bringing together representatives from 108 member states and over 130 partner organizations for a wide-ranging discussion on the intersection of climate change and global health. The meeting, moderated by Nick Watts of the Centre for Sustainable Medicine in Singapore (CoSM), featured updates from past and present COP presidencies, country experiences, and the Alliance's growing portfolio of technical work and collaborative mechanisms.
Opening Remarks Set the Tone
Dr Watts opened the meeting with humour and the challenges and achievement of coordinating a global call spanning time zones from 5 AM to late at night and bringing together so many participants from countries around the world.
Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Unit Head at WHO, provided welcome remarks that emphasised the Alliance's growth since its founding in Glasgow. "We're now, I think, at 108 member states who have made the commitments that we started collecting in Glasgow, well over 100 development partners all joining together to face this challenge," he said. “The challenge is huge. We all know the evidence, we're all seeing the impacts.” Dr. Campbell-Lendrum went on to note the urgency of the moment, referencing recent extreme heat events and a record-breaking El Niño, while emphasizing that the meeting was ultimately "about the Alliance, is about you and the partners, not actually about us at WHO."
Ms. Helen Yaxley, from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO UK), reflected on the progress of the Alliance since COP26 and celebrated the new Operational Mechanisms and how they will drive further climate and health action at the global and country level.
COP Presidencies Emphasize Continuity
Participants heard from the three successive COP presidencies - Türkiye (COP31), Australia (COP31 President of Negotiations), and Brazil (COP30) - each of whom stressed the importance of continuity across conference cycles.
Mr. Haydar Ridvan Civan from Türkiye's Ministry of Health outlined COP31's health priorities, including the proposed Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience (AIR). "Health systems need to be both dynamic and resilient," he explained. "Dynamic means being able to respond as climate risks change." He went on to emphasize that COP31 "is not a new beginning" but rather builds on work from COP26 through COP30, aiming "to carry that momentum forward, rather than start all over again."
Professor Zoe Wainer, Director General of the Australian Centre for Disease Control, delivered remarks that began with an acknowledgement of country, honouring the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. She highlighted Australia's work with Pacific nations, including the first-ever pre-COP held in Fiji, which convened ministers from over 50 countries and featured more than 10 official health events.
Dr. Agnes Suarez da Silva from Brazil outlined progress on the Belém Health Action Plan, which has been endorsed by 39 countries and over 50 institutions. She emphasized Brazil's focus on "building the partnerships and tools needed to move from commitment to implementation," including work on financing mechanisms and monitoring indicators.
Secretariat Reports Significant Progress
Ms Elena Villalobos Prats provided a comprehensive update on ATACH's work, presenting data suggesting that countries joining the Alliance are moving faster on climate-health assessments than non-members. She noted that 51% of ATACH countries reported having between 1-20% of healthcare facilities retrofitted or built considering climate hazards, compared to 42% globally.
The Secretariat outlined its 2026-2028 operational strategy, emphasizing regionalization and working closer with countries, capacity building acceleration, and the establishment of an ATACH Multi-trust Fund Catalyst for country-level implementation. Eight communities of practice have been announced, with leads to be revealed soon.
Countries representatives and Task Team Leads presented country examples and progress.
In his closing remarks, Campbell-Lendrum acknowledged the scale of the challenge while expressing optimism about progress. "We are trying to have an influence on a huge vehicle, which is the global health industry," he said. "Global healthcare is about 10% of the global economy... This is a modest investment in trying to orient the trajectory of a large part of the global economy," and praised the continuity demonstrated by successive COP presidencies.
Dr. Watts closed the meeting by directing participants to resources shared in the chat, including regional documents on finance and gender, greenhouse gas reporting standards, and the new Operational Strategy. He also emphasized the importance of feedback through an ongoing survey.
The ATACH Annual General Meeting was held virtually, with sessions designed to accommodate members across multiple time zones. The Alliance continues to welcome new member states and partners committed to building climate-resilient, sustainable, low-carbon health systems.
Meeting recordings
Session 1
Session 2