Ahead of COP31, the World Health Organization (WHO) Asia-Pacific for Environment and Health in the Western Pacific invites governments, researchers and organisations to submit real-world evidence of climate and health action.
The WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health in the Western Pacific under the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Pathfinder Initiative, has launched a new Climate and Health Co-benefits Challenge. The challenge invites representatives from government, academia, civil society, the private sector, and international agencies to submit real-world evidence showcasing climate interventions that are delivering measurable health gains.
The challenge, launched on 18 May on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, aims to show that the smartest climate investments are already improving health and saving lives. Winning case studies will be showcased at the Pre-COP31 in Fiji in October this year, and used to inform climate and health policy and investment decisions around the world.
The initiative responds to a critical gap, highlighted by Pathfinder Initiative research – while the health benefits of climate action are well recognised, more real-world examples are needed to understand what works and to inform and accelerate scale up of effective solutions. The challenge builds on evidence provided by case studies on the Pathfinder Initiative Climate and Health Evidence Bank and draws on the experience of Pathfinder Initiative experts in gathering examples of implemented climate solutions with quantified health benefits.
The call invites submissions from a range of sectors including energy, transport, agriculture and land use, oceans, urban planning, industry and nature-based solutions. Case studies must illustrate how climate mitigation or adaptation actions have generated measurable health co-benefits. Examples could include shifts to renewable energy resulting in cleaner air, urban greening contributing to both climate mitigation and adaptation while improving health and wellbeing, or transitioning to healthier, more sustainable diets.
Following developments in the global climate and health agenda, including the WHO Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health and the Belém Health Action Plan adopted at COP30, the challenge provides the next step in connecting solutions happening on the ground with decision makers who can put health at the centre of climate policies and investment.
Case study submissions will be accepted from 18 May until 31 August 2026.
Find out more about the challenge at the next Pathfinder Initiative webinar on 2 June
Read more on the WHO ACE website