The session will showcase how the health care sector can accelerate concrete actions that reduce emissions while supporting a just transition to a healthier, more equitable, and resilient future.
For Immediate Release: November 9, 2022
Contact:
At COP27: Josh Karliner, jkarliner@hcwh.org, WhatsApp +1 (415) 613-5386
Remote:
Ana Belluscio, in Buenos Aires, abelluscio@hcwh.org, WhatsApp +54 9 11 3381-7678
Pamela Wellner, in San Francisco, pwellner@hcwh.org, WhatsApp +1 415730-0105
Event: UNFCCC Futures Labs: Healthy people, healthy planet: Transforming the health care sector
When: November 10, 2022. 16:30 - 18:00 EET
Where: Climate Action Room 1 (Ibis), Climate Action Zone, Blue Zone, COP27. Livestream link
Who: Master of Ceremony: Diana Picon Manyari, International Climate Director, and Josh Karliner, Director of Global Partnerships, Health Care Without Harm.
- Opening statement: Dr. Mahmoud Moheildin, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Egypt
- Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization
- John Balbus, Acting Director Office for Climate Change and Health Equity, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States
- Helen Yaxley, Senior Policy Adviser for Climate and Health, Foreign Cooperation and Development Office, United Kingdom
- Dr. Poornima Prabhakaran, Director, Center for Environmental Health at Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
- Dr. Maria Guevara, International Medical Secretary, Médecins Sans Frontières –Doctors Without Borders
- Dr. Nermeen Ashour, Green Hospitals Project Manager, Egypt Healthcare Authority
- Glyn Richards, Group Director of Sustainability, BUPA
- Dr. Arvind Kumar, Founder and Managing Trustee, Doctors for Clean Air
- Dr. Courtney Howard, Global Climate and Health Alliance, Canada
- Azeeza Rangunwala, Global Green and Healthy Hospital (GGHH) Coordinator, groundWork, South Africa
- Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International
- Mohamed Eissa, Liaison Officer for Public Health Issues, International Federation of Medical Students Associations, Egypt
What: The Futures Labs session @COP27 will showcase health leaders laying out a vision for how the sector can accelerate concrete actions that reduce emissions while supporting a just transition to a healthier, more equitable, and resilient future.
During the session, speakers will highlight the momentum and vision for net zero resilient health care, and a just and healthy transition away from fossil fuels. The event explores what a net-zero, resilient health system could look like and how this transformational change contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and a just and healthy future without fossil fuels. 21st U.S. Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera will cap the session by reading a poem specifically for health climate action.
This session is organized by by Health Care Without Harm, in partnership with Climate and Health Alliance (Australia), Lung Care Foundation/Doctors for Clean Air (India), Global Climate and Health Alliance, groundWork (South Africa), Health and Climate Network, Médecins Sans Frontières, Public Health Foundation of India, and the World Health Organization.
Why:
- Health care's climate footprint is a significant contributor to the climate crisis, with roughly 5% of global net emissions–it would rank as the 5th highest global emitter as a country
- Governments and the private sector are implementing commitments made at COP26 and by the G7 covering more than 47% of all health sector climate emissions via the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) and the Race to Zero
- Health organizations, including the WHO, are urging governments to agree to a legally binding plan phasing out fossil fuel exploration and production as part of a global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
- Health organizations are calling for global compliance with the WHO air quality guidelines to rapidly reduce air pollution and GHG emissions
Health leaders are advocating for the inclusion of funding for health and health care in loss and damage agreements made at COP27