Your Excellency President Chakwera,
Your Excellency Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber,
COP28 Chief Executive Adnan Amin,
Dr Vanessa Kerry,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to join you today. My thanks also to Dr Kerry and her team at Seed Global Health for organising this event.
My thanks also to Your Excellency and the COP28 UAE Presidency for choosing health as a priority area, and for dedicating the 3rd of December to health.
I also commend the UAE for initiating the Climate-Health Ministerial meetings, which is a first in the history of climate talks.
The devastating storm that struck Libya a week ago is just the latest climate-related disaster to hit our headlines.
Report after report tells us this is our new normal.
Several years ago, I remember hearing my friend Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about his time as Governor of California, when there was a referendum on rolling back environmental regulations.
Initially, the polls indicated strong public support rolling back the regulations, until Schwarzenegger’s administration began a campaign that showed a child breathing through a ventilator, demonstrating the potential impact on health of relaxing the regulations.
The polls changed and the regulations remained in place.
Schwarzenegger is a strong advocate for health as the most compelling argument for climate action.
Melting ice caps and rising sea levels are of course crucial issues, but for most people, they are distant threats, in both time and place.
The threats to health of our changing climate are right here, and right now.
The climate crisis is a health crisis. It drives the extreme weather that is taking lives around the world, it fuels the spread of infectious and noncommunicable disease, and it undermines food security.
The same emissions that are warming our planet are also poisoning the air we breathe.
Air pollution leads to over seven million deaths per year, while biodiversity loss and irresponsible land use is daily increasing the risks of disease outbreaks and pandemics.
But we also have reasons to be optimistic. The climate commitments that countries are making under the Paris Climate Agreement are becoming more ambitious – and increasingly take account of the health benefits of climate action.
The global economy is beginning to decarbonize. Renewable energy is now the cheapest, fastest growing, and healthiest, form of energy.
Electric cars are gaining an increasing share of the market. Countries are investing more in climate resilience.
At WHO, we have made climate change and health a specific strategic priority.
But protecting our health and the health of the planet means acting outside the health sector, by transforming industry and implementing progressive regulations.
The world needs to speed up the transition to clean energy and cut carbon emissions. This will save money and lives and create jobs. The long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term financial costs.
The time for debate has passed. We really have no choice.
Let me close by laying out three priorities for ministers of health:
First, we need to raise our voices for health as the most compelling reason for climate action.
We urge you to join the more than 70 nations, and numerous partner agencies, that are already part of The Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health.
Second, we need to walk the talk.
The health sector is responsible for almost 5% of global carbon emissions. We must lead by example, in building climate friendly and climate resilient health systems.
For example, by accelerating the electrification of health-care facilities through solar energy, we can save lives, increase resilience to extreme weather, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce costs.
And third, we need to advocate for development and climate finance that protects health, now and in the future.
Thank you all for your commitment to healthy people, and healthy planet.
I am confident that the upcoming COP28, including the dedicated Health Day, will be a watershed moment for climate and health.
The health of our future generations is at stake.
I thank you.