World Patients Alliance Welcomes COP30 Health Community Recommendations, Calls for Patient Voice at the Centre of Climate Action
14 November 2025
The World Patients Alliance (WPA) welcomes the COP30 Health Community Recommendations, issued by the Global Climate and Health Alliance and its partners, as an important opportunity to place patients and communities at the heart of global climate policy. The Alliance sees these recommendations as a practical framework to ensure that climate decisions are shaped by those who live with the daily consequences of climate and health risks.
Observing Health Day on 13 November, the WPA joins the global call for bold and equitable climate action that protects patients, strengthens people-centred health systems, and recognises the vital role of patient organisations as partners in the response to the climate crisis. For WPA, health equity, patient safety, and meaningful patient engagement must guide how climate policy is designed and implemented.
Climate change is already harming patients’ lives and worsening existing health inequalities. Extreme heat, air pollution, new and resurgent infectious diseases, food and water insecurity, and climate-related displacement have serious physical and mental health impacts. Patients living with noncommunicable diseases, disabilities, rare conditions, and other chronic illnesses are often the first to feel these pressures. They face disrupted care, medicine shortages, loss of continuity of services, and increased financial and emotional stress on families and caregivers.
The World Patients Alliance emphasises that rapid emissions reductions and a just and managed phase-out of fossil fuels are now essential patient protection measures. Cleaner air, safer water, secure food systems, and healthier environments can prevent millions of avoidable deaths and reduce the burden of disease for patients and communities worldwide. A One Health approach, linking human, animal, and environmental health, is crucial to ensure that climate solutions are sustainable, fair, and built around the realities of people’s lives.
At the same time, health systems must be strengthened so they can withstand climate shocks while continuing to provide safe, high-quality, and accessible care. The WPA calls for increased investment in climate-resilient and people-centred health services, including infrastructure that can cope with extreme weather, reliable supply chains for essential medicines, and emergency plans that protect continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions. Education and training for health professionals, together with support for patient organisations, are equally important so that climate risks and patient experiences are fully understood and acted upon.
The Alliance stresses that patients, families, and their representative organisations must be fully involved in climate and health policy-making. From national adaptation plans to local preparedness strategies, patient voices should be recognised as a source of practical knowledge about what works, what fails, and who is being left behind. Ensuring that patients have a seat at the table is not symbolic participation; it is a prerequisite for fair and effective climate and health responses.
“Climate change is already reshaping the daily reality of patients across the world,” said Hussain Jafri, CEO, World Patients Alliance. “People living with chronic and complex conditions are telling us that extreme heat, pollution, and climate-related disruptions are making it harder to manage their health. Governments must act on these recommendations and ensure that patients and their organisations are not only consulted but actively involved in designing and monitoring climate and health policies. Protecting patients must be a core test of climate action, not an afterthought.”
The World Patients Alliance reaffirms its commitment to advocate for climate-smart, patient-centred health systems and to work closely with its member organisations, partners, and the wider global health community. As COP30 approaches, the WPA will continue to highlight the experiences and priorities of patients, and will urge governments and decision-makers to deliver measurable, transparent progress towards a healthier, more resilient, and more equitable planet for all.