Protecting health in an environment challenged by climate change: European Regional Framework for Action

The Regional Framework for Action aims to protect health, promote health equity and security, and provide healthy environments in a changing climate in the WHO European Region. It is designed to support action by Member States of the WHO European Region, the WHO Secretariat and other partners. Consistently with the WHO global workplan, it sets out its aim and key principles; five strategic objectives; specific actions to achieve the objectives; and implementation.

The Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health welcomed the Framework and recommended that its approaches are used to support action to protect health from climate change.

The Framework was developed by the European Climate Change and Health Task Force, chaired by the United Kingdom and Serbia, with the participation of eight countries, the European Commission, the European Environment Agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Health and Environment Alliance, the Regional Environment Centre. WHO/Europe acted as the secretariat for the Task Force, which was open for participation to all Member States and agencies in the WHO European Region.