The new Strategy, agreed during the LII Meeting of Ministers of Health of this union of countries and their associated states, replaces the first one on this topic that Mercosur had established in 2009. It has been updated in line with the new global frameworks , such as the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the PAHO Agenda for the Americas on Health, Environment and Climate Change 2021-2030.
The text approved by Mercosur explicitly highlights the role of PAHO as a reference authority in the region and as one of the institutions that address the nexus between climate and health, and is based, among other elements, on the “strategies, PAHO action and agendas regarding environmental public health in general and climate change and health in particular,” according to the document.
Organización Panamericana de la Salud
The strategy includes seven lines of action that address, among other aspects, the objective of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the health sector, the design of the health chapters of the National Plans for Adaptation to Climate Change and Specific Adaptation Plans of the Ministries of Health, the strengthening of epidemiological and environmental surveillance on climate-sensitive diseases, the training of health teams about the effects of climate change on health, and the promotion of inter-institutional and intersectoral alliances at regional level.
PAHO will continue technical assistance in health and climate change
During the LII Meeting, Argentina formally transferred the pro tempore Presidency of Mercosur to Brazil, which will hold it for the next six months. During that time, the Brazilian government will work on specific plans to implement each line of action of the new Strategy on Climate Change and Health in the coming years, a process in which PAHO will continue to provide technical assistance on both matters. PAHO’s collaboration with the Mercosur countries and associated states will also continue in other lines of work such as technical assistance in the preparation tasks of COP28 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will take place in November and December in Dubai, and support for Brazil as host country of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Summit in 2025 (COP30), which will be held in Belem, capital of the State of Pará, in the Amazon.
This collaboration between PAHO and the countries of the region is part of a collaboration to help strengthen the leadership of the Region of the Americas and its role as a global actor in the areas of health and climate. Within the framework of this technical cooperation, the Andean Health and Climate Change Plan 2020-2025, the Declaration of Ministers of Health of Mercosur and Associated States in relation to Health and Climate Change, of 2018, support for the implementation of the Agenda for the Americas on Health, Environment and Climate Change 2021-2030, the technical assistance provided to the countries of the region by PAHO as the implementing agency of Green Climate Fund projects, and the Climate Change and Health Program.
