A Climate-Health Vision with Lessons from India
Context:
2025 Global Conference on Climate and Health (Brazil, July 29–31, 2025) → shaped the Belém Health Action Plan.
Set to be launched at COP30 to be held in November 2025,this plan will define the global agenda on climate and health.
India was not officially represented → a missed opportunity to showcase its developmental models with climate-health co-benefits.
Lessons from India’s Welfare Programmes
PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Scheme)
Covers 11 crore children across 11 lakh schools.
Links nutrition, education, agriculture, food procurement.
Promotes millets & traditional grains → reduces malnutrition + builds climate-resilient food systems.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Improved sanitation, hygiene, public health, environmental sustainability.
Used cultural anchoring (Mahatma Gandhi’s vision) to mobilise people.
MGNREGA (environmental works)
Restored degraded ecosystems while generating rural employment.
PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)
Promoted clean cooking fuel (LPG) → reduced household air pollution & respiratory illnesses.
Cut carbon emissions.
Key Insight:
These were not explicitly climate policies, but produced major health and climate co-benefits.
Demonstrates the power of intersectoral interventions.
Critical Success Factors
Political Leadership – Direct PM involvement (PMUY, Swachh Bharat) ensured cross-ministerial cooperation.
Community Engagement – Cultural symbolism (Swachh Bharat) & grass-root participation (school committees under PM POSHAN).
Institutional Embedding – Used existing structures (ASHA workers, SHGs, Panchayats) rather than creating parallel bodies.
Challenges Identified
Siloed Administration: Ministries act in isolation → hampers intersectoral outcomes.
Economic Barriers: High LPG refill costs under PMUY undermine sustained usage.
Social-Cultural Barriers: Inequitable access and traditional practices.
Output vs. Outcomes: Policies often measured in outputs (toilets built, LPG connections given) rather than long-term outcomes (sustained sanitation use, refill affordability).
Framework for Climate-Health Governance
Strategic Prioritisation
Frame climate action as a health emergency.
Example: Clean cooking as women’s empowerment.
Procedural Integration
Introduce Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in all climate-relevant policies (energy, transport, agriculture, urban planning).
Participatory Implementation
Use health benefits (clean air, safe water, nutritious food) as motivators for public mobilisation.
Empower local health workers & SHGs as climate-health advocates.
Conclusion
India’s welfare experience shows that non-health interventions can deliver strong health and climate co-benefits.
Future governance must be intersectoral, health-anchored, and community-driven.
By embedding this model into Belém Plan implementation, India can position itself as a global leader in climate-health governance.
Belém Health Action Plan (2025)
Context:
Adopted at the 2025 Global Conference on Climate and Health (Brazil, July 29–31, 2025).
Will be launched at COP30 (Nov 2025) as the first consolidated global framework on climate-health nexus.
Objective: Support Parties in implementing ambitious health sector commitments to address climate change impacts.
Core Principles
Equity – prioritising vulnerable communities.
Climate Justice – recognising differentiated responsibilities and impacts.
Governance with Social Participation – inclusive, participatory policy-making.
Resource Mobilisation – facilitating flow of human & financial resources for climate-health action.
Three Pillars
Surveillance and Monitoring
Strengthen early warning systems for climate-sensitive diseases.
Track health impacts of climate events (heatwaves, floods, vector-borne diseases).
Evidence-based Policy, Strategy & Capacity Building
Integrate health impact assessments into climate policies.
Train health professionals in climate resilience & emergency response.
Support intersectoral coordination across health, environment, agriculture, energy.
Innovation and Production
Promote climate-resilient technologies in health (e.g., solar-powered cold chains, green hospitals).
Support local R&D and manufacturing for resilient medical supplies and infrastructure.
Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH)
Background & Purpose
Established under the WHO after COP26 (Glasgow, 2021).
Objective: To build climate-resilient and sustainable low-carbon health systems at national, regional, and global levels.
Works as a WHO-administered platform (not a separate legal entity)as an informal voluntary network.
Provides collective action by WHO Member States + stakeholders to integrate climate-health nexus into policy planning.