Quality criteria for integrating health into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
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World Health Organization
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ix, 78 p.
Climate change increasingly threatens population health, health systems and sustainable development, requiring stronger integration of health considerations into national climate governance and policy frameworks. This guidance document examines how health can be systematically incorporated into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and within broader United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes, outlining quality criteria to support governments in strengthening climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience actions through a health-centred approach. The publication describes the institutional, policy and technical dimensions of integrating health across the principal components of NDCs, including leadership and governance, national circumstances, mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, financing, implementation and monitoring. It highlights the health impacts of climate change, the health co-benefits of mitigation measures across sectors such as energy, transport, food systems and urban planning, and the importance of climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems. The document also presents guiding principles, operational recommendations, country examples and assessment tools to support evidence-informed planning, monitoring and prioritization of health-related climate actions. Intended for ministries of health, climate and environment authorities, policymakers and technical partners, the guidance proposes adaptable and non-prescriptive criteria to help countries develop more ambitious, equitable and health-oriented climate commitments aligned with sustainable development objectives.
Climate change increasingly threatens population health, health systems and sustainable development, requiring stronger integration of health considerations into national climate governance and policy frameworks. This guidance document examines how health can be systematically incorporated into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and within broader United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes, outlining quality criteria to support governments in strengthening climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience actions through a health-centred approach. The publication describes the institutional, policy and technical dimensions of integrating health across the principal components of NDCs, including leadership and governance, national circumstances, mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, financing, implementation and monitoring. It highlights the health impacts of climate change, the health co-benefits of mitigation measures across sectors such as energy, transport, food systems and urban planning, and the importance of climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems. The document also presents guiding principles, operational recommendations, country examples and assessment tools to support evidence-informed planning, monitoring and prioritization of health-related climate actions. Intended for ministries of health, climate and environment authorities, policymakers and technical partners, the guidance proposes adaptable and non-prescriptive criteria to help countries develop more ambitious, equitable and health-oriented climate commitments aligned with sustainable development objectives.