United Nations Climate Action Summit

Step up climate action, improve health, change lives

Climate change is the defining issue of our time, and now is the defining moment to do something about it. There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.

To boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, will host the 2019 Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019 to meet the climate challenge.

The Summit will showcase a leap in collective national political ambition and it will demonstrate massive movements in the real economy in support of the agenda.

WHO is working with Spain, Peru and the Secretary General’s team to secure strong commitments in addressing air pollution and climate change together, and to invest in proven interventions for climate-resilient health systems, and in air quality monitoring and policy implementation.

WHO is inviting various key stakeholders (in particular Member States) to  support commit to ambitious action on climate change and health:

• • As a national or subnational government, you can commit to achieving air quality that is safe for your citizens, and to align your climate change and air pollution policies, by 2030.
  • As a multilateral development bank, climate fund, bilateral development agency, philanthropic organization, or private sector actor, you can commit to significantly scale up your investment in proven interventions for climate-resilient health systems, and in air quality monitoring and policy implementation.

A flyer and the full text of the commitments are attached. Information on how you can develop these commitments, as well as the resources and support that are available for you to act on health, can be found at www.who.int/globalchange/commit/.