On Monday, 9 November, health takes centre stage as the thirty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opens with a dedicated Health Day. Developed jointly by the COP31 Presidency with the support from the World Health Organization, the programme brings together ministers, country delegations, technical experts and civil society representatives to advance solutions at the intersection of environment, climate change, air pollution, energy and health, while setting the agenda for two weeks of discussions and action across the conference.
Health Day includes four high-level panel discussions and a ministerial roundtable focused on building resilient and dynamic health systems. Our 2025 WHO Health and Climate Change Global Survey reports that while the knowledge on what works for climate and health is there, this isn’t adequately met by implementation and financing. To bridge this gap, the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience (AIR) also launches today – a new initiative that aims to translate scientific evidence, international experience and good practices into concrete policies and measurable actions, promote the sharing of successful practices among countries, and strengthen the resilience of health systems to climate-related risks.
“Health is the strongest argument for climate action,” said Dr Diarmid Campbell Lendrum, Head of the Climate Change, Energy, and Air Quality Unit at WHO headquarters. “Through Health Day, the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience and ATACH, WHO and the COP presidency are supporting countries to move from knowledge to implementation for climate and health action. COP31 is an opportunity to back this momentum with the finance and the political will to deliver.”
The Day is also the starting point for WHO's programme of health-focused events throughout COP31. From hosting over 60 events the COP31 Health Pavilion, to organizing high-level panel discussions and roundtables throughout the two weeks of the conference, WHO will support activities on all 12 thematic days, working with countries and partners to ensure health remains a central consideration in climate policy, financing and implementation, building on WHO’s climate and health priorities for COP31
The climate crisis is a health crisis
WHO’s key messages at COP31 are threefold. Climate change is already causing measurable harm to health, and its impacts fall unequally on regions and people. Health systems must be made climate-resilient, low-carbon and sustainable. And, health is the strongest argument for climate action, with co-benefits from cutting emissions, adapting with health in mind, financing what works and putting health in the negotiated text.
Around 3.5 billion people live in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change, and over 90% of deaths from climate-related disasters in the past two decades occurred in developing countries. Air pollution, including from burning fossil fuels, kills around 7 million people globally. The impacts fall hardest on small island developing states, water-scarce, conflict-affected, coastal and agricultural communities, and on pregnant and lactating women and newborns, children, older people, Indigenous Peoples and outdoor workers.
COP31 Health Day
Health is a priority in the COP31 Presidency’s Action Agenda, where Dynamic and Resilient Health Systems is Priority Theme 8. Health Day opens the conference, and is an opportunity for political leadership, learning from country experiences and showcasing technical knowledge. The day includes sessions on dynamic and resilient health systems, digital health for climate actions, climate-sensitive health technologies, humanitarian aid and climate-health financing, alongside a ministerial roundtable. On 10 November, ATACH Day at the COP31 Health Pavilion brings together the members of the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) for a full day of events. Antalya is the moment to implement the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP) adopted at COP30, to join, renew and report commitments through ATACH.
From knowledge to impact: launching the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience (AIR)
The COP31 Presidency today launches the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience (AIR), a voluntary, non-binding initiative for sharing knowledge and experience on health resilience. Its purpose is to make the practical experiences that are already available around the world easier for others to use, by sharing case studies, documenting experience, peer exchange facilitated by ATACH, and the synthesis of cross-cutting lessons. After COP31, the experience pool, peer learning and practical resources will be shared and cultivated through ATACH, carrying lessons forward across future COP cycles.
The AIR is a critical tool for bridging the gap reported by countries in the 2025 global survey, that the knowledge is there but implementing and financing what works continues to lag. However, there are clear pathways forward. On 4 November, WHO published a new technical analysis of the global benefits and costs of prioritised climate-health actions, finding that only six priority actions could save 1.6 million lives a year and return US$ 24 for every dollar invested. WHO is further calling for health to be an explicit eligibility area in climate finance, and for ministries of finance, health, environment and energy to budget for climate impacts on health systems using WHO’s economic evidence in national climate policy costings.
Another priority action is the reduction of black carbon, a potent short-lived climate pollutant, on which WHO will share an advance preview of its forthcoming report on health effects at COP31, underscoring the benefit of immediate air-quality gains and a contribution to slowing near-term warming.
Looking ahead
Health Day opens COP31 and sets the tone and direction for the rest of the conference, that health needs to be at the heart of climate decisions. WHO will be present across every thematic day of the conference, at the Health Pavilion and beyond, working to increase the inclusion of health in the negotiations and supporting Parties to put health in national climate planning. The measure of Antalya for health is whether commitments made since Glasgow and in Belém are implemented, renewed and reported. ATACH and AIR give countries the means to do that, during COP31 and beyond.