Negotiating to Protect Health and Lives

This report by the Global Climate and Health Alliance provides a set of recommendations for COP30 to integrate health and planetary health into UNFCCC negotiations. It argues that climate change undermines global health progress and calls for ambitious action across adaptation, mitigation, just transition, loss and damage, and finance to protect human physical and mental health.

• Climate change is causing significant global economic losses related to health, including US $1.09 trillion in potential income losses in 2024 due to heat exposure and US $4.84 trillion in monetised air pollution-related mortality in 2023, which represents 4.7% of global GDP.
• The report recommends that COP30 fully operationalise the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) by adopting health-specific indicators and establishing a new public grant-based adaptation finance commitment of US $120 billion annually by 2030, tripling the 2025 Glasgow Pledge target.
• Mitigation is presented as a public health imperative; the report notes that in 2023, countries allocated US $1 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies, with 15 countries spending more on these subsidies than on their national health budgets.
• The document calls for a global mechanism for just transitions, specifically the Belém Action Mechanism for a Global Just Transition (BAM), to coordinate efforts and mobilise finance for the Global South, ensuring the right to health and a clean environment are safeguarded.
• Regarding loss and damage, the report highlights a massive funding gap, noting that as of October 2025, contributions to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage totalled US $559 million, which is less than 0.2% of the estimated US $400 billion annual need.
• The report advocates for a transition from industrial agriculture to agroecology to protect health and the climate, noting that delays in transitioning to low-carbon, healthy diets contributed to 11.8 million preventable deaths annually between 2021–2022.
• To prevent undue influence from polluting industries at UNFCCC meetings, the report recommends enhancing disclosure of affiliations and funding for all delegates and excluding representatives of high-emitting industries from COP delegations and sponsorships.

APA

Global Climate and Health Alliance (2025). Negotiating to Protect Health and Lives. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/COP30-Health-Community-Recommendations_Nov-17.pdf

Chicago

Global Climate and Health Alliance. Negotiating to Protect Health and Lives. 2025. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/COP30-Health-Community-Recommendations_Nov-17.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Climate and Health Alliance |title=Negotiating to Protect Health and Lives |date=October 2025 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/COP30-Health-Community-Recommendations_Nov-17.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalclimateandhealthalliance2025negotiating, author = {{Global Climate and Health Alliance}}, title = {{Negotiating to Protect Health and Lives}}, institution = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/COP30-Health-Community-Recommendations_Nov-17.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }