‘Exploiting the potential of One Health Approach for Low-Carbon, Climate Resilient Health Systems in Africa’

Lilongwe, Malawi: August 24, 2023

We, African regional stakeholders on climate change and health, having met in Lilongwe, Malawi, from 22-24 August 2023 for the African Regional Conference on Climate Change and Health;

Acknowledging the recognition by UNGA of the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment^[1] as a universal human right, and by the Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment in Africa that good environmental management promotes good health;

Recalling the acknowledgment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the seventh chapter of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) that there is a high level of confidence in understanding how climate change impact ecosystems and the health of human beings;

Disturbed by the complex interplay between global temperature rise and the worsening health indicators, growing episodes of loss and damages and the implications of the health of ecosystem and health systems, emerging disease geographies and the growing burden of care for people suffering from disease triggered by climate episodes and disasters

Taking into account the urgent need for the global north to cut on their emission levels in order to slow and eventually forestall global temperature rise with implications on future climate catastrophes;

Fully aware that response measures in building resilience in the health sector will not yield the much-desired results unless complemented by strong mitigation actions by the global north;

Recognizing the One Health concept as a comprehensive and interdisciplinary strategy that acknowledges the interdependence of human health, animal health, and environmental health, and viewing it as the optimal approach to tackle intricate climate-driven health challenges at the junction of humans, animals, and ecosystems and pivotal in achieving planetary health;

[1] The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (which includes the right to a safe climate) as a human right, recognized most recently in General Assembly resolution 76/300 of 29 July 2022.

Download/Read More: Africa-Common-Position-Climate-and-Health