The World Health Organization and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Thursday renewed their strategic partnership in addressing the growing impacts of climate change on global health.
According to a press release, the Netherlands is providing a new allocation of €500,000 ($546,812) for 2024 to WHO, reinforcing its commitment to climate resilience and sustainable healthcare systems worldwide.
This allocation supports WHO’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health Secretariat and advance global climate change and health programs.
The contribution builds on the partnership established in 2023 between the Netherlands and WHO to collaborate on climate change and health.
Together, they have supported African, Asian and Eastern Mediterranean countries in advancing the implementation of integrated climate and health surveillance and early warning systems.
They have also enhanced their capacity to deliver on the health commitments made at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow in 2021, or COP 26, empowering countries to advance climate-resilient health system readiness.
This partnership, along with the support from other organizations, is pivotal in assisting member states in developing climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems.
Affirmative Action
The Netherlands has advocated climate action in health, aligned with the Dutch Global Health Strategy 2023-2030, which emphasizes the intersection of climate change and health.
Additionally, the Netherlands and Peru led the adoption in 2024 of the World Health Assembly 77 Resolution on Climate Change and Health to renew the current one from 2008.
The resolution calls for a WHO global action plan, increased national efforts and mainstreaming of climate change and health in WHO’s new Fourteenth General Programme of Work.
The partnership’s renewal brings the total support from the Netherlands to WHO activities on climate change and health to over €1.1 million since 2023.
The contribution comes at a crucial time as countries face increasing health challenges from climate change and the global health community gears up for COP29 in Azerbaijan in 2024.
Climate change will continue to be a key priority area in the new Global Policy Watch program, and where WHO’s work in collaboration with member states and partners will result in 7.5 million lives saved in the next four years, as estimated in WHO’s latest investment case.
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