Health Care Climate Action

Government Action

Policy for climate and health

COP26 Health Programme–climate change prevention and preparedness

While both the private and public sectors need to take climate action, the scale of the crisis requires in-depth, long-lasting, and rapid decarbonization carried out by government policy, laws, and regulations across all sectors. With a global greenhouse gas contribution of 4.4%, the health care sector is no exception. National and sub-national health authorities control numerous policies and financial levers essential for health care decarbonization and resilience.

To realize the vision laid out in our Global Road Map for Health Care Decarbonization, Health Care Without Harm is playing a leadership role in the COP26 Health Programme, working with the Conference of the Parties (COP) Presidency (via the UK Foreign Cooperation and Development Office-FCDO), the WHO, Greener NHS, and the UNFCCC Climate Champions team. Together, we’re working to support national governments to make a set of commitments on health care resilience and decarbonization. Our goal is to build more robust country ambitions on climate emissions reduction and resilience with a leading cohort of health ministries committed to health care climate action. In the lead-up to COP26, these national ministries will join the growing number of hospitals and health systems making similar commitments through the UN-backed Race to Zero. Together, these two efforts can begin to propel the health care sector on a trajectory that aligns with the ambition of the Paris Agreement.

In the midst of the pandemic, we had to recover from extreme weather events and manage the resulting health impacts. [It] has shown us that health systems and facilities are the main line of defense in protecting populations from emerging threats … and that now is the time to increase our commitment to a safer, and more sustainable and inclusive future for all.

HON. IFEREIMI WAQAINABETE

Minister for Health and Medical Services, Fiji

Following COP26, Health Care Without Harm will support national governments to follow through on their health care climate commitments. We are creating a framework and methodology for countries to set their health care climate footprint baseline, develop effective decarbonization and resiliency plans, and implement them.

It can be done and it must be done

Recently, the government of Argentina included a commitment to estimate its health system’s emissions and define reduction measures in its Nationally Determined Contribution. England’s NHS has developed a plan to get to net-zero by 2040. Several major U.S. health systems, including Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, and Providence set or met carbon neutrality goals. The state of Chhattisgarh in India is investing in solar power for all of its hospitals and health centers. These leadership actions are an indicator that climate-smart health care policies and actions are emerging on every continent and are viable and achievable.

International agencies play an essential role in supporting national and subnational governments to make emission reduction commitments. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has developed a set of climate pathways that outline the sectoral visions for a 1.5-degree climate-resilient world by 2050 and the actions needed to achieve that future. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides policy and technical guidance to ministries of health around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where the transition to low carbon health care and resilience must occur in unison with addressing urgent health needs, including Universal Health Coverage. Numerous bilateral and multilateral development cooperation agencies are beginning to invest in transforming health care to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.

Summary of initiative commitments of the COP26 Health Programme

Commitment area 1: Climate resilient health systems

Commit to conduct climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments (V&As) at population level and/or health care facility level by a stated target date;
Commit to develop a health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) informed by the health V&A, which forms part of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to be published by a stated target date;
Commit to use the V&A and HNAP to facilitate access to climate change funding for health (e.g. project proposals submitted to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Green Climate Fund (GCF) or Adaptation Fund (AF) or GCF Readiness programme).

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Commitment area 2: Sustainable low carbon health systems

High ambition/high emitters: Commitment to set a target date by which to achieve health system net zero emissions (ideally by 2050).
All countries: Commitment to deliver a baseline assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of the health system (including supply chains)
All countries: Commitment to develop an action plan or roadmap by a set date to develop a sustainable low carbon health system (including supply chains) which also considers human exposure to air pollution and the role the health sector can play in reducing exposure to air pollution through its activities and its actions.

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Country Commitments to the COP26 Health Programme

Argentina
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Bahamas
Climate resilient health systems

Bahrain
Climate resilient health systems

Bangladesh
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Belgium
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Belize
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Bhutan
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Canada
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Cape Verde
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Central African Republic
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Chile
Sustainable low carbon health systems

Colombia
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Costa Rica
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Dominican Republic
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Egypt
Climate resilient health systems

Ethiopia
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Fiji
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2045

Georgia
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Germany
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Ghana
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Guinea
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment

Indonesia
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2030

Ireland
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Ivory Coast
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2040

Jamaica
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Jordan
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Kenya
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2030

Lao PDR
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Madagascar
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Malawi
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2030

Maldives
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Mauritania
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Morocco
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Mozambique
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Nepal
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Netherlands
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Nigeria
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2035

Norway
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Oman
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

OPTs
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Pakistan
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Panama
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Peru
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Rwanda
Climate resilient health systems

Sao Tome and Principe
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Sierra Leone
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2035

Spain
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Sri Lanka
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Tanzania
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Togo
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Tunisia
Climate resilient health systems

Uganda
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

United Arab Emirates
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

United Kingdom
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2040

United States of America
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems

Yemen
Climate resilient health systems | Sustainable low carbon health systems | Net zero commitment by 2050

Solutions in action & resources

Video

Over 50 countries commit to COP26 Health Programme

As one of three partners of the COP26 Health Programme, together with the COP26 Presidency and the World Health Organization, Health Care Without Harm has been working to encourage countries to develop climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems. On November 9, 2021, at the COP26, 50 countries announced their commitment. Josh Karliner, International Director of Program and Strategy of Health Care Without Harm, explains the significance of these health care climate actions and this historic moment.

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Brief

Countries commit to develop climate-smart health care at COP26 UN climate conference

A group of 50 countries have committed to develop climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), in response to growing evidence of the impact of climate change on people’s health.

The governments of these 50 countries, which include some of those most vulnerable to the health harms caused by climate change as well as some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, have committed to take concrete steps towards creating climate-resilient health systems.

Brief

COP26 Health Programme: Country commitments to build climate resilient and sustainable health systems

An overview of the COP26 Health Programme initiative's commitments for climate resilient health systems, sustainable low carbon health systems and the process for recording/tracking commitments.

Brief

Key considerations for the incorporation of a health perspective in NDCs

This policy brief identifies some of the main elements for incorporating a comprehensive health perspective in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) presented by countries as climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement. Its goal is to guide national governments in developing or updating NDCs in incorporating key considerations which would enable mobilizing the health sector to tackle the climate crisis.

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Article

Argentina becomes first country to include health care decarbonization in its global climate commitment

In 2020, Argentina became the first country to include health care sector decarbonization commitments in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. In addition to several adaption measures, Argentina’s NDC calls for an assessment of health care sector greenhouse gas emissions and the establishment of emission reduction actions as a priority for implementing its NDCs.