DUBAI: The 28th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP28) opens on Thursday in Dubai, UAE, and for the first time, a health day is observed during which a climate-health ministerial meet will be held to build consensus on priority actions for the health system’s response on climate change, paired with financing commitments for implementation.
The health day is on December 3. As per the information gathered by TNIE, close to 70 countries have confirmed sending their ministers, while there is no official communication from the Indian government
on sending its health ministerial delegation to COP28 talks as on Wednesday.
A reliable source in the Union health ministry confirmed that as on date, neither the Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, state ministers in the health and welfare departments or any secretary rank health official are attending the COP28.
Dr Aakash Shrivastava, head, Centre for Environmental Health and Occupational Health, Climate Change and Health at National Centre for Disease Control in New Delhi, told TNIE he was not sure of Indian health delegation participation. “The (health) ministry will take a call,” he said. With just three days to go for the Health Day, it looks highly unlikely, say sources, adding that last-minute changes can’t be ruled out.
Jess Beagley, Policy Lead, Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) said, “The first ever COP Climate-Health Ministerial is an opportunity to more deeply integrate health and climate decision-making. Despite climate and health considerations being intrinsically linked, these processes too often remain siloed. It is regrettable that India is not attending this pivotal meeting, especially given the high burden of air pollution in the country, which could be substantially addressed through considering health in climate action.”
According to the GCHA Clean Air NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) scorecard released in October 2023, India scores only 2 out of 15 available points for integrating air quality considerations into its NDCs. “The lack of deeper integration of air quality and health considerations, especially given the high rate of air pollution mortality, is a grave missed opportunity for optimising integrated action on climate and clean air. The provision of finance by developed countries to developing countries to support healthy climate action is vital,” said Beagley, who is also a co-chair of Climate Action Network’s Health Working Group at COP28.
Only recently India’s capital New Delhi witnessed severe air pollution levels putting the health of its population at risk. India was the world’s eight most polluted country in 2022 with PM2.5 level of 53.3 micrograms/cubic metre, which is over 10 times the WHO’s safe limit. Air pollution in India resulted in 1.67 million deaths in 2019, the largest pollution-related death toll in any country.
Loss and damage fund
On the eve of COP28, a draft decision has been released by the presidency for operationalisation of the ‘Loss and Damage’ fund, its funding arrangement. Experts have long been demanding to provide funds as grants instead of loans or credit. The funds should be kept under the UN agency. The current proposal is to provide finance after considering the debt sustainability of the country.