WHO Chief Puts Health at the Center of COP31 Climate Action

Why must action extend beyond health ministries?

His second priority meant more than preparing plans. Ghebreyesus said countries must implement them, with inadequate financing, insufficient capacity and weak coordination remaining major obstacles. Capacity here means the practical ability to carry out a plan; coordination means ensuring that organizations and government bodies act together rather than in parallel.

He argued that decisions on energy, transport, food, water, housing and urban planning directly affect public health, so action cannot remain inside health ministries alone.

“Ministries of health, finance, environment and energy must jointly plan and allocate resources, while integrating health priorities into national adaptation plans and climate commitments,” he said.

National adaptation plans, which set out measures to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts, should therefore include health priorities. Joint planning and resource allocation across the four ministries would turn that recognition into government action.

Ghebreyesus said increased financing for proven climate and health interventions could save lives, reduce greenhouse gas emissions—releases of heat-trapping gases—and strengthen national economies. He described climate action as an investment in healthier populations, resilient communities and stronger economies, rather than merely an added financial burden.

What will the Antalya Initiative do?

The Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience would help countries turn those priorities into practical action. According to Ghebreyesus, it would document successful interventions and promote knowledge-sharing, creating a record that other countries could examine and adapt.

The initiative would complement WHO’s Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health, known as ATACH. This alliance brings countries and partners together to develop, renew and report their climate-health commitments, providing an existing structure involving multiple countries through which to continue the work.

Antalya would add a platform for countries to exchange experience and learn how to implement successful interventions in different settings. Ghebreyesus said ATACH would sustain the lessons beyond COP31, allowing countries to keep sharing experience and accelerate climate-health action.

What does Ghebreyesus want from COP31?

He described the Belém Health Action Plan as an important framework and urged countries to make COP31 a turning point for faster implementation. Governments should strengthen resilience across health systems and share both successes and setbacks, allowing other countries to learn from favorable results and from failures.

He also called on climate negotiators and development financiers—institutions that provide financing for development—to make health an explicit consideration in climate-related decisions and financing arrangements.

Ghebreyesus said governments should recognize health as a compelling justification for climate action because of its immediate benefits: cleaner air, healthier food and safer cities. WHO reaffirmed its commitment to help countries translate climate commitments into practical measures that protect populations and strengthen health systems.

For Ghebreyesus, the test of COP31 is whether essential care continues through climate hazards, not merely whether another plan is announced.