Climate Change Threatens the Health of Future Generations, Physicians Warn 

Geneva, 13 October 2026

The World Medical Association (WMA) has adopted a revised Declaration of Delhi on Health and Climate Change at its General Assembly. The revision calls on governments to treat climate change as a health emergency and to act on the rights of future generations to live in a healthy environment.

The WMA urges that a rapid and equitable global phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to protect health, alongside a just transition for workers and communities exposed to fossil fuel extraction, processing and combustion.

“Climate change is already changing the health of our patients, through heat, floods and disease,” said Dr. Jung Yul Park, President of the WMA. “Our ethical code asks physicians to protect the health of future generations as well as today’s patients. That means acting on the causes, not only treating the consequences.”

“The people most at risk are those who did least to cause this crisis,” Dr. Park added. “Governments must make sure their health systems are ready, and that adaptation reaches the communities that need it most.”

The WMA calls on national governments to honour their international climate commitments. It asks them to provide climate financing that strengthens health systems, invest in research on climate and health, and train physicians and other health professionals for climate-related disasters. Governments should also include health representatives in emergency and preparedness planning, provide for people displaced by environmental causes, and ensure health is considered in all relevant policies.

Physicians are called on to prepare for climate-related emergencies and supply disruptions, to reduce the environmental footprint of healthcare, and to ask patients about environmental factors when taking their medical history. Medical associations should place the climate emergency on their agendas and work for the inclusion of climate and health in medical education.

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