COP30 ATACH Day: Accelerating Action on Climate and Health

National representatives, philanthropic organisations, NGOs and climate and health experts convened at the COP30 Health Pavilion to engage in ATACH Day: Accelerating action on climate and health.  COP30 has been pivotal for health, which is a rising focus in climate change discussions as rising temperatures and extreme weather impacts health worldwide.

On 14 November, ATACH Day, participants braved the heat – a poignant reminder that climate change is already impacting our health – to discuss “accelerating and scaling-up action” for climate change and health. 

“The Belém Health Action Plan marks an important step in calling for action from all sectors. As the Secretariat of the Belém Action Plan, WHO will promote and track its implementation in countries through ATACH.” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General in a video address 

“WHO is honoured to have been entrusted by the Brazilian Government to be Secretariat to the Belem Health Action Plan. We are looking forward to working with the ATACH community to implement solutions to adapt health systems and mitigate this climate crisis.” Elena Villalobos Prats, ATACH Secretariat Lead 

ATACH Day was broken up into 3 sessions: 

• Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Sustainable Health Systems 

• Accelerating Climate and Health Financing 

• From Evidence to Action - Accelerating Healthy Climate Action in All Sectors 

Speakers explored how various actors, including countries and constituencies, can contribute to the scaling of existing efforts on climate and health.  They also reflected on opportunities and steps to achieve accelerated action on climate and health as quickly as possible.  

Attendees were inspired by examples of best practices from countries, NGOs, philanthropic organisations and international organisations. Evidence-based strategies were discussed with a focus on how actions that benefit health have broader impacts across all sectors and can positively contribute to governance stability and stability. 

Participants were also reminded to maintain their health through physical activity with several moderators encouraging those in the health pavilion to jump up and down, dance and sing before sessions began. 

The detailed program for ATACH Day can be viewed here 

The Secretariat would like to thank all participants for contributing to an insightful ATACH day and all attendees – both in-person and online – for their commitment to accelerating climate and health action in health and across sectors. 

View the recordings of ATACH Day (Day 5) here