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The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the world’s foremost international climate summit. At COPs, world leaders gather to work together on solutions to tackle climate change. There are now 198 Parties to the Convention, constituting near universal UN membership.
Climate change is a global challenge. Collaborative approaches and collective agreement are required to develop, adopt, and implement effective, expedient policies at all scales.
Most United Nations forums address climate change or include its risks in their scope of work. Global environmental agreements generally feature climate change prominently. The UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), and the World Health Assembly (WHA), all periodically adopt resolutions related to climate change.
The central body influencing global governance of climate change is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which is a decision-making forum of 197 countries. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which functions as a global repository on climate change knowledge, informs UNFCCC intergovernmental negotiations on policy-relevant science. At its establishment in 1992, the UNFCCC recognized the linkage between climate change and adverse impacts to human health. (UNFCCC Article 1)
However, the primary objective of negotiations under the UNFCCC is to address mitigation of anthropogenic emissions that drive climate change – or, as written in in the treaty, to achieve “the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. (UNFCCC Article 2)
Over the last 30 years, the inherent link between the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions and health promotion has not been fully realized or valued in an intergovernmental, interdisciplinary, or comprehensive way. (1)
The stabilization and reduction of greenhouse gases will promote health and positive health outcomes, including on food security and nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and air quality and exposure to pollutants. When designed well, climate policies can play a significant role in protecting and promoting public health.
A few health references are incorporated into the framework agreement of the UNFCCC and the international environmental law of the Paris Agreement.
More information on the history of health in the UN climate negotiations will be made available soon.
