COP26: 50 countries pledge to create climate-resilient health systems

• Low-carbon healthcare is an approach for building and operating health facilities that generate minimal amounts of greenhouse gases

• WHO says 85% countries have a designated focal point responsible for health and climate change in their health ministries

A group of 50 countries have pledged to develop climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems on Tuesday at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to counter the impact of climate change on people’s health.

The commitment was made part of the COP26 Health Programme, supported by the UK government as the Presidency of COP26, the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and the UNFCCC Climate Champions.

The program comprises nations like the United States, UK, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and as many as 45 have also committed to transforming their healthcare systems to make them more sustainable and low-carbon.

Fourteen countries have set a target date to reach net-zero carbon emissions on or before 2050.

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However, the details of the plan haven’t been announced yet.

What is low-carbon healthcare?

In theory, low-carbon healthcare is an approach for building and operating health facilities that generate minimal amounts of greenhouse gases.

The approach saves money by reducing energy and resource costs and improving healthcare quality in diverse settings.

“The future of health must be built on health systems that are resilient to the impacts of epidemics, pandemics and other emergencies, but also to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and the increasing burden of various diseases related to air pollution and our warming planet,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO said.

WHO survey

The move follows a day after the WHO published its health and climate change global survey report.

The report found that only three-quarters of surveyed countries have developed or are currently developing national health and climate change plans or strategies.

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While around 85% of the surveyed countries have a designated focal point responsible for health and climate change in their ministries of health, in 54% of nations, the ministry of health has established a committee on health and climate change, according to the WHO report.

“The message from WHO and health professionals around the globe is clear: climate change is a huge health challenge, and we need to act now. I’m really pleased to see so many countries prioritising this issue through the COP26 Health Programme and their level of ambition,” said Wendy Morton, Minister for Europe and Americas, in the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Picture Credit: EUKI