Photo courtesy of WHO. Retrieved from matangitonga.to
“Investing in climate-resilient health facilities is not a luxury. It is a lifeline,” Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala warned in Baku, Azerbaijan. “We urgently need accessible and equitable climate-health financing for the Pacific. Current funding is simply insufficient to meet the unique needs of these Small Island Developing States. I am here at COP29 to help change that.”
Dr Piukala delivered the keynote speech in a side event at COP29’s Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion on Friday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Piukala, and other high-level UN and government officials are at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, calling for financial commitments and urgent actions to improve health facilities’ resilience to climate change. The WHO Western Pacific Region includes 37 countries and areas, including large Asian countries and small Pacific islands that are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
Across the Western Pacific Region, rising sea levels, extreme weather events and environmental degradation pose serious risks to health infrastructure and community well-being. The toll of climate inaction is striking – an estimated 3.5 million lives are lost each year to environmental causes in the Western Pacific Region alone, WHO reported.