COP26-Health: Morocco among countries pledging to develop up low-carbon health system

Morocco is among the group of 50 countries which committed to develop a climate-resilient and low-carbon health system at the UN Climate Change Conference currently held in Glasgow (COP26).

Forty-five of these countries, including some of those most vulnerable to the health harms caused by climate change as well as some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, have pledged to make their health systems more sustainable and low-carbon. Fourteen have set a target date to reach net zero carbon emissions on or before 2050.

These commitments were made following growing scientific evidence of the impact of climate change on people’s health. They are part of the COP26 Health Program, set up in partnership with the UK government, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“The future of health must be built on health systems that are resilient to the impacts of epidemics, pandemics and other emergencies, but also to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and the increasing burden of various diseases related to air pollution and our warming planet,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“Health systems must also be part of the solution, by reducing carbon emissions. We applaud those countries that have committed to building climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, and we hope to see many others following their lead in the near future”, he added.

Morocco, ranked 1st country in Africa and the Arab world in terms of climate performance, has pledged to raise its Nationally Determined Contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45.5% by 2030. This is part of an integrated, low-carbon development strategy to be implemented by the year 2050. It aims to help advancing a green economy, enhancing sustainable development and economic resilience to global warming.