It was a watershed moment when the themes of “health action for climate” and “climate action for health” shone through on both the Global Climate Action Summit’s main stage and at affiliated events.
“Health was in the house like it never had been before at an international climate conference,” said Josh Karliner, Health Care Without Harm international director, in an article published by Skoll Foundation.
A great example of the unprecedented health presence is a compelling short film produced by Kaiser Permanente, shown during the summit’s opening plenary and viewed by the thousands of official delegates.
The video makes the case that climate change is “about health” and features Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard J. Tyson, Health Care Without Harm founder Gary Cohen, and Health Care Without Harm board member Dr. Aparna Bole.
The summit cemented and celebrated commitments to climate action from subnational governments, businesses, and civil society. Health Care Without Harm brought together a series of health care commitments that were announced in at the Sept. 12-14 event.