7 October 2015: The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a call to action to raise awareness regarding the health opportunities that can be realized by tackling climate change. The call to action will be presented at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC that will take place in Paris, France, in November-December 2015.

The call to action will demand a climate deal that delivers: strong and effective action to limit climate change, and the avoidance of unacceptable risks to global health; the scaling up of financing for adaptation, including public health measures to reduce risks from extreme weather events, infectious disease, diminishing water supplies and food insecurity; and actions that both reduce climate change and improve health, including reducing death rates from cancer, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by air pollution.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan underscored that the evidence is overwhelming that climate change endangers human health, adding that solutions exist and decisive action is required “to change this trajectory.”

WHO identifies the climate deal in Paris as possibly the “most important health agreement of the century,” as it will provide an opportunity not only to reduce climate change and its consequences, but also to promote actions that can yield health benefits, and reduce health system and community costs.

WHO pledges its commitment to: raise awareness about the health effects of climate change and the potential health co-benefits of low carbon pathways; contribute to the development and implementation of measures to limit climate change and protect workplaces and communities; and work to minimize the environmental impacts on health systems, while also improving health services. [WHO Press Release] [WHO Call to Action]