Action for climate change: examples from the WHO Regions for Health Network

Overview

Climate change is widely seen as a critical public health challenge. This collection of case studies, developed within the framework of the WHO Regions for Health Network (RHN), offers examples of climate change in six RHN regions, namely, Andalusia (Spain), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Flanders (Belgium), Moscow (Russian Federation), Ticino (Switzerland) and Wales (United Kingdom). It describes the climate-change strategies of these regions, including their legislative frameworks, adaptation and mitigation measures, and initiatives related to health-system resilience and community engagement. While identifying shared concerns and good practices, the examples collected stress the relevance of local exposures and vulnerabilities, governance structures and socioeconomic contexts. Lessons learned result in a recommendation to integrate health systematically into climate policies, strengthen surveillance and early-warning systems, invest in resilient and low-carbon health systems and address the inequities that exacerbate climate-related health risks. The findings guide regional, national and international stakeholders on how to advance climate-responsive health governance towards the achievement of sustainable well-being across Europe.