Building on the legacy of the Paris Agreement and previous UNFCCC Conferences, COP30 reaffirms its commitment to adaptation and climate justice. Among the key themes are the objectives of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, commitments to climate financing, and the progress made by countries in terms of adaptation—essential elements for guiding future actions. In this context, Brazil is working to propose the draft Belém Health Action Plan for the Health Sector’s Adaptation to Climate Change at COP30, aiming to engage UNFCCC Member States in a climate-health commitment, with an emphasis on adaptation to ensure equitable access to health services and promote social participation in governance.

The Belém Health Action Plan brings together recent efforts to support work at the health–climate change nexus, with the aim of encouraging Parties to implement ambitious commitments in the health sector. As a working instrument, the Plan outlines suggested measures within priority action areas, while taking into account, in a crosscutting manner, equity, climate justice, and governance with social participation. In doing so, it facilitates the flow of human and financial resources toward the implementation of consolidated best practices in climate action for health.

Based on these priority pillars, three action lines have been identified for climate change adaptation and the development of climate-resilient health systems:

–       Surveillance and monitoring

–       Evidence-based policy strategy and capacity building

–       Innovation and production.

In line with the Action Plan, the main objective of this call for Supporting Documents is to identify consolidated policies and good practices in order to provide countries adhering to the commitment with a guide of options for adapting for improved health outcomes to the impacts of climate change. The expected Supporting Documents will serve as references to inspire committed countries to deliver adaptation measures for their healthcare systems, strongly guided by best practices of participatory policies.

These documents will seek to address a series of difficulties some countries face when planning or executing climate action: technical gaps, lack of evidence, financial restrictions, and the need to prioritize other policies. They will provide the committed countries with a menu of options that have been proven to be effective, to have a good cost-benefit balance, to adapt to regional diversities and to promote participatory processes of formulation, implementation and evaluation. Hence, they will serve as tools to foster implementation of the measures suggested by the Belém Action Plan as contributory reports.

Proposals for the Supporting Documents regarding topics from the draft Belém Action Plan may be submitted by June 10 by filling out the online form below. Selected proposals will be further discussed during the 2025 Global Conference on Health and Climate, to be held in Brasília from 29 to 31 July.

The full Terms of Reference can be accessed here.

Submit your proposal before June 10 by filling out one of the online forms below.