SF’s participation in Race to Zero Dialogue on Climate and Health
Our Chairperson, Ms. Saima Wazed, as the Thematic Ambassador on Vulnerability of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, spoke at one of the sessions from ‘Race to Zero Dialogue on Climate and Health’ on 10 November 2020. The online event was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with Race to Zero, the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), the Wellcome Trust, Glasgow Caledonian University and its ‘Centre for Climate Justice, the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, and the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This event was designed as a dialogue between policymakers and experts on how to raise ambition, and finance, for health resilience to climate change. Along with Ms. Saima Wazed, the dialogue was framed by scene setting presentations by several prominent policymakers and speakers- Elhadj As Sy, Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) and former Head of IFRC, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Climate Change and Health Team Leader, WHO, Josh Karliner, International Director of Program and Strategy, Health Care Without Harm, Gonzalo Muñoz, COP26 High-Level Climate Action Champion, Muhammad Irfan Tariq, Director General for Climate Change and Environment at the Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan, Vainetutai Rose Toki Brown, Honourable Minister of Health, Cook Islands and, Aletha Ward, School of Nursing and Midwifery Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland. As climate change adversely impacts the health and well-being of billions of people and will increasingly do so over the next decades, the aim of this online event was to discuss ways the health sector can effectively increase access to climate financing for health adaptation and resilience. During the session, the importance of raising ambition for health resilience to climate change was discussed, and the critical actions which were needed to be implemented to strengthen the resilience of health systems and facilities as a means meet short-term and long-term health shocks and stresses to find out the main barriers to health adaptation. The session can be streamed via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oLfZIblpWw&feature=youtu.be
