On October 22, 2024, the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) held a virtual general meeting to announce structural reviews that will enable the platform to respond to the climate crisis with agility and efficiency.
The conference was held entirely online to reduce travel emissions and split into two sessions to allow participants from all time zones to participate.
“We must lead by example,” said Elena Villalobos-Prats, Director-General of the World Health Organization’s ATACH. “ATACH exists to help countries build climate-resilient health systems, but we also need to reduce emissions. Every little bit counts.”
The Secretariat announced a new structure and delivery mechanism for the Alliance, aimed at facilitating opportunities for further engagement by countries and partners and strengthening the delivery of key priorities. The alliance will introduce task teams into a new structure to tackle specific climate health issues. ATACH will continue to prioritize building climate resilience and low-carbon sustainability in health systems, while supporting, defining and advocating for health promotion activities by other sectors (e.g. food, agriculture, energy). The General Assembly congratulated the Chairs of the ATACH Working Groups on Climate Resilient Health Systems, Low-Carbon and Sustainable Health Systems, Supply Chains, Finance, Climate Action, and Nutrition on their successes in their respective areas of work and: It was an opportunity to build a foundation. ATACH’s new organization.
To facilitate delivery and participation, task teams led by interested partners and countries will be responsible for driving specific deliverables prioritized by each country. Several technical conferences will also be organized by countries and partners. The ATACH delivery mechanism allows flexibility to respond to newly identified priorities. In the fight to protect health during the climate crisis, we must adapt quickly to change. Task teams allow you to respond to newly identified support needs with agility and efficiency.
Recordings of both sessions of the General Assembly are available here.
About ATACH
ATACH was established in June 2022 in response to commitments to the COP26 initiative on building climate-resilient, low-carbon and sustainable health systems. More than 85 countries and 75 partners have now come together to drive this agenda forward at pace and scale, leveraging the combined strengths of WHO Member States and other stakeholders. and promote the integration of climate change and health links into national, regional and global plans.
