COP31 opens with a Health Day on climate and health
Written by AI from who.int's report. Not checked by a person.
The COP31 climate conference opens on Monday, 9 November, with a Health Day developed by the COP31 Presidency with World Health Organization support. The day includes four high-level panels, a ministerial roundtable and the launch of the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience.
The thirty-first UN climate conference, COP31, opens on Monday, 9 November, with a dedicated Health Day. The programme was developed jointly by the COP31 Presidency with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). It brings together ministers, country delegations, technical experts and civil society representatives, and is meant to set the agenda for two weeks of discussions across the conference.
Health Day includes four high-level panel discussions and a ministerial roundtable on building resilient and dynamic health systems. Topics include digital health, climate-sensitive health technologies, humanitarian aid and climate-health financing.
The COP31 Presidency also launches the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience (AIR), a voluntary, non-binding initiative for sharing knowledge and experience on health resilience. It responds to findings in WHO's 2025 Health and Climate Change Global Survey, which reports that knowledge of what works is available but implementation and financing lag behind.
Dr Diarmid Campbell Lendrum of WHO said health is the strongest argument for climate action. He said WHO and the COP presidency are supporting countries to move from knowledge to implementation, and called for finance and political will to back that momentum.
WHO says it will support activities on all 12 thematic days of the conference, including more than 60 events at the COP31 Health Pavilion. On 10 November, members of the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) will hold a full day of events. WHO also says the Belém Health Action Plan, adopted at COP30, should now be implemented, with commitments renewed and reported through ATACH.
