COP30 in Belém launches Belém Health Action Plan on climate and health
At the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, dozens of countries backed a new plan to protect people's health from the effects of climate change.
This summary was written by AI to complete the context; it is not based on a current source.
On 12 November 2025, during the COP30 UN climate summit in Belém, Brazil, governments launched the Belém Health Action Plan. The plan was backed by dozens of states and aimed to bring health systems to the centre of climate policy.
It focused on the health effects of a warming planet, including heat stress, air pollution, the spread of infectious diseases and damage to health services from extreme weather. Backers argued that health systems needed to be better prepared and more resilient, with a particular focus on vulnerable communities and lower-income countries.
The launch came on a day of the summit devoted to health, and the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN health agency, was among the institutions urging countries to act. Health had long been a minor theme in climate negotiations, so the initiative was seen as a sign that it was gaining weight on the agenda.
The plan set the stage for later discussions on how to turn commitments into funding and concrete measures, which is the context for WHO's later calls for health action ahead of COP31.
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