The Road to COP 28: Action towards Climate Change and Health

The COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, took place during a global polycrisis, with ongoing energy, food, and health crises, and increasingly severe extreme weather events. Climate change is already affecting people’s health and will continue to do so at an accelerating rate unless urgent action is taken. The direct damage cost to health is estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030.

COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, represents a critical inflection point in responding to these growing threats, including by delivering solutions to accelerate the global energy transition, and building bridges to advance global efforts that will support the Global South and countries that are most vulnerable.

The delivery of the first Global Stocktake will be one of the main legacies of COP28, and a crucial process to drive further ambition, sectoral action, cooperation, and support in this decade and beyond.

Health can be a powerful argument for increased ambition at COP28 and in the Global Stocktake; for example, the economic case for climate action makes clear that the health benefits far outweigh the costs of meeting the Paris Agreement goals. The concrete and measurable potential of climate commitments to protect lives, health, and wellbeing of global populations would be a powerful benchmark of progress, and would motivate further action.