WHPA Urges COP30 to Build Climate-Smart, Health Professional-Led Health Systems under the Belém Health Action Plan
Geneva, Switzerland: 6 November 2025—As the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil begins, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) is calling on governments and global leaders to ensure that health professionals are at the centre of implementing the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP), the new global roadmap for climate-resilient and sustainable health systems.
The WHPA stresses that urgent, coordinated action is needed to build climate-smart, health professional-led health systems capable of protecting both patients and those who care for them.
“Strengthening, protecting, and meaningfully engaging health professionals must be central to every national implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan. A safe, well-supported health workforce is fundamental to safeguarding both patient safety and the sustainability of health systems worldwide”, said Dr Otmar Kloiber, Chair of WHPA and Secretary General of the World Medical Association.
The Alliance commends the leadership of the COP30 Presidency and the World Health Organization (WHO) in developing the Belém Health Action Plan, to be adopted during COP30 Health Day, and welcomes its strong focus on strengthening the health workforce as a cornerstone of global health resilience.
WHPA encourages the WHO and COP30 Presidency to formally engage health professionals and their representative bodies in the next stages of developing, implementing, and monitoring the Belém Health Action Plan and reiterates its readiness to support translating the Belém Health Action Plan into concrete national action.
Lastly, WHPA urges all governments to invest in the health workforce, strengthen occupational safety, and integrate climate-health considerations across all policies, ensuring that health systems are prepared for the realities of climate change.
Notes for Editors
The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) brings together the global organizations representing the world’s dentists, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and physicians and speaks for over 41 million health care professionals in more than 130 countries. The WHPA works to improve global health and the quality of patient care and facilitates collaboration among the health professions and major stakeholders.
www.whpa.org
COP 30 is the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place on 6-21 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change. COP30 will focus on the efforts needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the presentation of new national action plans (NDCs) and the progress on the finance pledges made at COP29.
Press contact
Joannah Caborn Wengler, Manager of the WHPA Secretariat
jcwengler@whpa.org
+41 22 560 8147
[END]