The Paris agreement

The Paris agreement

                                                 

The Paris Agreement, adopted on 12 December 2015, marks the beginning of a new era in the global response to climate change. The world now has a global climate agreement - that will have a major public health policy impact as countries take action. As stated in the agreement, “the right to health”, will be central to the actions taken.

The Agreement not only sets ambitious aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming well below 2°C, it also commits countries to strengthen adaptation. This includes implementing plans that should protect human health from the worst impacts of climate change, such as air pollution, heat waves, floods and droughts, and the ongoing degradation of water resources and food security. It commits countries to finance clean and resilient futures in the most vulnerable countries.

Through monitoring and revision of national contributions every five years, the world will begin to see improvements not only in the environment, but also in health, including reductions in the more than 6.5 million deaths worldwide that are attributed to air pollution every year.

In 2017, Fiji became the first small island developing country to hold the Presidency of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-23), focusing the world’s attention on those most vulnerable to climate risks, and particularly those living in island nations. 

WHO, in partnership with the Fijian Presidency and the UNFCCC Secretariat, jointly launched a special initiative on climate change and health in small island developing States, as one of the main outcomes of COP-23. WHO has therefore focused the Third Global Conference on Health and Climate specifically on developing an ambitious action plan to implement the initiative, to protect and promote the health of some of the most vulnerable populations in the world.