HCWH Europe's Advocacy Work

• Addressing Health Impacts of Climate Change
• HCWH Europe's Advocacy with Decision-Makers

The health community is influential. Contributing its expertise to climate change debates and policy-making would make climate initiatives stronger and better at tackling the myriad health threats climate change poses. We are asking the health community to shape climate policy to ensure public health protection and integrate into climate policy the health benefits from tackling climate change.

Addressing Health Impacts of Climate Change

With other health organisations, such as the Health and Environment Alliance, the Climate and Health Council, the Standing Committee of European Doctors, the European Respiratory Society and others we have raised the profile of health in climate change discussions between European policy-makers and within the health community.

Policies that cut greenhouse gas emissions produce positive health returns, or 'co-benefits'. For example, more walking and cycling and less private car-use makes a positive contribution to both mitigating climate change and health. The calculation of climate change mitigation programmes costs should factor in the savings to public health spending which result from such policies.

We advocate:

• A 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels by the EU and other wealthy nations
• An annual EU financial contribution of €35bn by 2020 to fund global action on climate change, with a substantial amount allocated to the health sector.

Join us in our advocacy effort by signing the Prescription for a Healthy Planet or by contacting us via email.

HCWH Europe's Advocacy with Decision-Makers

Since 2009 we, our partners in the health community, and our members have jointly engaged with EU health and environment ministers, the EU health commissioner and members of the European Parliament to ensure that health and the benefits from strong anti-climate change measures are taken into account at key junctures in the climate change debate and policy development. We have gone to Bonn (June 2009), Barcelona (November 2009) and Copenhagen (December 2009) to present our views to policy-makers.

We have raised the health profile on climate change with EU environment ministers, asking them to support the 40% EU emissions reduction target and an annual EU commitment of €35bn by 2020 to fund global action on climate change. We have also asked EU health ministers to join in climate change debates and ensure that public health protection is properly integrated into policy.

We have written to the Commission President, José-Manuel Barroso, and the commissioners for environment and health, asking them to ensure that health is given greater prominence in shaping climate change debates and policies.

With our partners we wrote to the UNFCCC negotiators, urging them to focus on health in the Copenhagen agreement and apply the recommendations in the Prescription for a Healthy Planet. The letter explained that the health cost of unchecked climate change requires a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions by wealthy nations. It recommends cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. It also recommends allocating a large share of resources in any global action fund to the health sector.

Join us in our advocacy effort by signing the Prescription for a Healthy Planet or by contacting us via email.

Open letters sent:

• 1 February 2010 letter calling on EU heads of state to increase the European target on climate change: Health Groups Call for 40% Target on Carbon Emissions
• 22 January 2010 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EU Commission Concerning Europe's emissions reduction target to the UNFCCC Secretariat, 31 January 2010: Protect Health through Ambitious EU Climate Change Commitments
• 08 January 2010 Post-Copenhagen Position Statement
• 16 December 2009 action at COP15 Conference: Tackling the Twin Threats of Climate Change and the Global Health Gap
• 23 October 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EU Heads of States and Governments Concerning the EU Position for COP 15: Make EU Climate Finance Deal Healthy to Help Broker the Copenhagen Deal
• 14 October 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to Members of the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI Committee) concerning proposals for amendment of the "European Parliament Resolution on the EU strategy for the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change (COP 15)": Bring Health to the Centre of Climate Change Towards Copenhagen and Beyond
• 20 October 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EU Environment Ministers: Council Conclusions on the Preparation of the EU Position for COP 15
• 10 September 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EU Commission Communication COP 15 Briefing: Stepping Up International Finance: a European Blueprint for the Copenhagen Deal
• 2 July 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to European Region National Focal Points for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Put Health in the Centre of Climate Change Work Towards Copenhagen and Beyond
• 30 June 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EU health ministers ahead of Bonn: Health Must Become Central to Climate Change Towards Copenhagen and Beyond
• 6 June 2009 HCWHE HEAL climate letter to EC and health ministers: Improving Health Representation in Climate Change Discussions and Outcomes: Call for EU Health Delegation at Climate Change Talks

For more press releases about our climate work,
see our news archive.