Health will be an important focus of the upcoming annual United Nations (UN) climate conference taking place in November in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to the COP29 Presidency and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Like the previous COP, there will be a health day and there is a slew of health-focused initiatives, according to Elmar Mammadov, co-lead of the COP29 Global and Regional Initiatives and Action Agenda Team.

The COP29 Presidency and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have launched the Harmonia 4 climate resilience initiative to empower farmers, villages, and rural communities.

Then there is the ‘Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience’, which is a multi-sectoral initiative on health, education, jobs, green skills, and youth.

In addition, the COP29 Presidency is exploring a coalition along the lines of Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) that came out of COP26. ATACH is an informal voluntary network to share information-sharing and for cooperation administered by WHO.

“We would like COP29 Presidency to prioritize health on a permanent basis, to make it a long-term, sustainable topic to all COPs in the future,” Mammadov said. He added that the COP29 Presidency would like to bring together all the Presidencies since COP26, along with the WHO, and form a climate and health coalition.

The announcements were made during a webinar jointly organized by the COP29 Presidency and the WHO.

“It will be a very strong legacy on health, starting with the ATACH in COP26 and making sure that we have, every year, a more impactful presence on climate change and health,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO’s Director of Environment, Climate Change and Health.

Neira hailed the plans for collaboration between COP29 Presidency and other UN agencies like FAO, apart from the WHO to liaise on various issues that affect health.

Integrating health into city planning

It has become increasingly clear that the national governments have been slow to move on climate policies despite public rhetoric. And hence the focus has shifted to local administration as they have shown to be more willing to act.

“One of the key topic is integration of health into city planning,” Mammadov said. There will be several events and round tables that would focus on this topic.

“And one round table will be dedicated to nature, healthy cities and urban agriculture. This round table also will produce communicable call to action, [and] particularly will address urban agriculture, healthy cities and nature, because afforestation, reforestation also is one of the key topic for cities,” Mammadov said.

The Presidency has introduced the ‘Resilient and Healthy Cities’ initiative that will keep a track of the healthiest cities and address urban health issues. The World Heart Federation also began ranking cities based on the response to cardiovascular health this year, along similar lines.

COP29 is looking at health through food security, gender equity and environment, among others.

Focus on making COP29 inclusive

The location, high cost of attendance, visa issues and the allocation of time at COPs has usually meant that many groups are excluded.

“We would like to make COP29 inclusive. We would like to hear all voices, all proposals,” Mammadov said. He added that the goal would be to incorporate health into global initiatives to ensure it is a central theme in climate action.

Meanwhile, the Presidency will encourage multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds to invest in each of these areas, so they get the required climate finance.

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