Durban Declaration on Climate and Health

The Durban Declaration on Climate and Health is a statement signed on December 4, 2011, by health professionals from over 30 countries during the UNFCCC's 17th Conference of the Parties. It asserts that climate change is a major global health threat and calls on national delegations to integrate public health objectives into climate agreements and transition away from fossil fuels.

• The World Health Organization and the Lancet identify climate change as a critical threat to global health, predicting that unmitigated changes will increase illness and death through the spread of diseases like cholera, malaria, and dengue, as well as through compromised food security and more frequent extreme weather events.
• Mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels provides immediate health benefits by reducing harmful air pollution, which would protect urban populations and local communities, lower healthcare costs, and save lives.
• The signatories call for a global temperature rise limit of below 2 degrees Celsius, requiring a transition to clean, renewable energy and low carbon economies, with major emissions reductions from the largest polluters and support for those least responsible for the crisis.
• The declaration outlines five specific calls to action for UNFCCC national delegations: recognizing health benefits of mitigation, increasing health sector representation (including the WHO), empowering youth, women, and indigenous peoples, adopting a strong second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, and negotiating a binding agreement by 2015.
• The proposed 2015 agreement should prioritize human health, establish a 'fair shares' framework for emissions reduction based on equity, promote energy efficiency, and provide resources for the Green Fund and other mitigation and adaptation funding.

APA

ostyx (2013). Durban Declaration on Climate and Health. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/news/durban-declaration-on-climate-and-health/

Chicago

ostyx. Durban Declaration on Climate and Health. Global Climate and Health Alliance, 2013. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/news/durban-declaration-on-climate-and-health/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=ostyx |title=Durban Declaration on Climate and Health |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |date=13 September 2013 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/news/durban-declaration-on-climate-and-health/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{ostyx2013durban, author = {ostyx}, title = {{Durban Declaration on Climate and Health}}, publisher = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2013}, month = sep, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/news/durban-declaration-on-climate-and-health/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }