A COP29 for people and planet

COP28 in Dubai saw the adoption of the first ever Declaration on Climate and Health at a UNFCCC conference. This declaration confirmed the extensive interlinkages between human health and climate decision-making and must now be translated into outcomes for people and planet at COP29 in Baku.

At COP29, action on climate and health necessitates action on mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, underpinned by finance of the necessary quantity and quality. These pillars of action must be viewed hand in hand – action and investment to accelerate adaptation and address loss and damage are already essential in many communities; and without ambitious mitigation, the limits of adaptation will rapidly be exceeded, with catastrophic losses and damages, including physical and mental health impacts. Finance is a prerequisite for climate action sufficient to protect human health.

Recommendations from the International Health and Climate Community

Members of the international health and climate community, coordinated by the Global Climate and Health Alliance, have produced a 2024 report ‘A COP29 for People and Planet’ which outlines recommendations from the international health and climate community and call upon Parties at COP29 to commit to and deliver ambitious climate action sufficient to protect and promote the health of people and the planet. The headline recommendations are:

• IMPLEMENTATION REPORTING: Define mechanisms to allow follow up and reporting on agreed priorities for action on climate change and health set out in the UAE COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health.
• POLICY COHERENCE: Embed health and climate actions, targets, and associated economic considerations, in NDCs and other national policies, supported by strengthened intersectoral coordination. 
• ENABLING FINANCE: Adopt a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance of necessary quantity and quality, without which health-promoting climate action will be infeasible. 
• JUST ENERGY TRANSITIONS: Commit to the fast, fair, full and funded phase-out of fossil fuels including an immediate end to all expansion of fossil fuel production and infrastructure and a rapid and just transition to renewable energy as a public health imperative.
• HOLISTIC ADAPTATION: Lay foundations for adaptation planning and monitoring that reflects physical and mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
• LOSS AND DAMAGE RESPONSE: Capitalise the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to address the health and wider needs of impacted communities, while positioning the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage to support quantification of  health losses and damages.
• RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND ECOSYSTEMS: Prioritise food and agricultural systems and land use that protect biodiversity and promote nutrition security, including healthy and sustainable diets that are affordable and accessible.
• ENHANCED INTEGRITY: Manage conflicts of interest by strengthening policies to reduce undue influence of health- and climate-harming polluters in UNFCCC policymaking. 
• COLLABORATION WITH MOST IMPACTED COMMUNITIES: Create environments which enable guidance for healthy climate action to be provided by most affected communities through their safe and meaningful engagement and participation.