Wellcome at COP28

Wellcome Trust and the World Health Organization, in collaboration with George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, are hosting a conversation on communication and engagement strategies for inspiring urgent climate action. This event will bring together stakeholders across research and advocacy to discuss how effective communication about climate and health can advance our shared ambitions to mitigate worsening effects of a warmer climate and adapt health systems.

Creating interoperable digital infrastructure that brings together climate and health-specific data is going to be critical for understanding the impacts we need to adapt to, monitoring the health effects of adaptation and mitigation and accelerating digital product development. The last decade has seen enormous investment in the digital transformation of health systems that could be leveraged in this context. Mature, scalable, open-source software are used by every country in the world and where implementations have been undertaken by governments the digital infrastructure is locally owned and managed. These digital public goods have the potential to accelerate climate action.

A conversation with Julia Gillard, Wellcome Trust Chair, and fellow leaders in climate and health to showcase how leadership in the field has helped promote new solutions and approaches to tackle the climate crisis and its health impacts. It will be an opportunity to illustrate the impacts that climate and health action can have on the lives of those most affected and the ambitions of leaders in this space.

We know that climate change is one of the greatest threats to human health. We also know that the impacts of climate will not be felt evenly, and that children are particularly vulnerable. This event will set out the problem, but also potential solutions.

This event will unpack political and financial commitments on climate and health made during the World Action Summit and set the scene for the first ever dedicated Health Day at COP.

A growing body of research and data demonstrates how climate change impacts human health. This event will provide a high-level overview of this scientific evidence in an engaging way, to show the different ways in which climate change is already damaging human health today, and its likely long-term impacts. It will also introduce evidence on the health benefits of climate action. Frontline communities and representatives from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups will share the ways in which their health and lives are being impacted by climate change. The event will look to ‘bring the science to life’ with real-world examples and case studies.

This event will make the case for mental health as a priority action for the health response to climate change. On top of suffering physical impacts from the climate crisis, people’s mental health is also being severely impacted, preventing them from thriving and affecting resilience. The cost of these impacts is estimated to grow to 47 billion US$ annually by 2030. This event will focus on climate-induced mental health impacts among the most vulnerable communities including youth, those with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and people living with severe mental health challenges.

Taking rapid and ambitious action to address the climate crisis and reach the goals of the Paris Agreement is critical to protecting lives and livelihoods. This event will highlight the health opportunities of ambitious climate mitigation policies, both in terms of reduced climate impacts, and possible co-benefits of specific mitigation actions across key fields including energy, transport and agriculture.