The United Kingdom and the World Health Organization on Monday established a new health and climate change platform to assist countries in fulfilling pledges set at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
The announcement comes amid rumours that France, like Germany, is planning to restart coal-fired power reactors in order to deal with the energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to Maria Neira, director of the WHO’s environment, climate change, and health department, “this new alliance is intended to sustain the momentum and advance action on climate change and health at the country level, to help countries bridge the gap between commitments and implementation as a first priority.”
The Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate Change and Health (ATACH), which aims to create resilient, low-carbon, sustainable health systems, held its inaugural conference on Monday.
The alliance will act as a meeting place for the government bodies that supported the COP26 Health Program during the summit, which ended on November 13 in Glasgow, Scotland.
In addition, ATACH will bring together relevant partner organistions to coordinate efforts, exchange information and best practices, build networks, and get access to technical and financial support.
It will also connect current efforts, address shared obstacles, and track global success.
At the moment, 60 nations have committed to at least one of the activities on climate-resilient and low-carbon sustainable health systems championed by the COP26 Health Program.
