Evaluating progress and accountability for achieving COP26 Health Programme international ambitions for sustainable, low-carbon, resilient health-care systems
- PMID: 39393379
- DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00206-7
Evaluating progress and accountability for achieving COP26 Health Programme international ambitions for sustainable, low-carbon, resilient health-care systems
Abstract
A global initiative to develop low-carbon, resilient health systems-the COP26 Health Programme-launched at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in 2021. As of May, 2024, 83 nations have committed to participate in this initiative. This analysis evaluates the effectiveness of existing and proposed indicators towards public monitoring and accountability to these commitments. Our findings reveal substantial gaps in data availability and indicator relevance, with many countries reporting process indicators that do not reflect actual progress towards achieving sustainable health-care systems. We found a dearth of suitable indicators and an urgent need to develop robust ones that are adaptable to different health-care system contexts. These indicators should be designed to capture tangible outcomes, support policy making, and prevent greenwashing. Integration of more robust indicators into independent scientific monitoring can support systematic inclusion of health care in global climate strategies, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of the COP26 Health Programme.
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests IMB received grants from the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund, Stichting VSBFonds, and Dr Hendrik Mullerfonds, and travel grants from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. ME received US National Science Foundation award 1454414; has received consulting fees from AstraZeneca and the WorldBank; and declares honoraria from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Colombia University. MH has received honoraria from the University of Bayreuth, Novartis South Africa, and Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik; travel support from the Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference and the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare; and holds advisory roles (paid) with the South Australian Health Performance Council and Glenview Community Services. AM has received grant funding from the Wellcome Trust; has been employed by the UK National Health Service, and is currently employed by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care; has been paid for consultancy services to WHO; and has received travel support from the Public Health Association of Australia. AJM has received funding from the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Medical Association, and honoraria from both for speaking. XN received partial support from the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health. PP provides consultation services (paid) for the World Bank India Office and Health Care Without Harm (Ikea Foundation), and holds advisory roles (unpaid) with CAFÉ, Connecting Climate Minds, and the Climate and Health Hub for G-20 countries. FNR has received consulting payments from Aga Khan Health Services, travel support from WISH Foundation, and is a member of the Geneva Sustainability Centre Steering Committee. MR is funded by Wellcome and Horizon Europe programmes via IDAlert and CATALYSE (payments to institution). RGR declares a research grant from the Adaptation Research Alliance, which is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; consulting fees from Wellcome; honorarium for lectures from USAID; is a member of the International Advisory Board for The Lancet Planetary Health, chair of the Thematic Working Group on Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Health Systems of Health Systems Global, member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Embedding Ethics in Health and Climate Change Policy, and member of the National Panel of Technical Experts of the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines. HS has received grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the US Department of Veteran's Affairs Health Services Research & Development and the VA National Center for Patient Safety; and declares honoraria from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. JDS received partial grant support (paid to institution) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Commonwealth Fund, Institute for Health Research, and National Science Foundation; declares honoraria for lecture and travel from various organisations; and holds leadership roles with the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists. DvA provides consultation services (paid) for the Pan American Health Organization (unrelated to this work). JCY is supported by the University of British Columbia. CZ-C declares salary support through contracts between Cayetano Heredia University with the University of Leeds and WHO; has provided consultation services (paid) for the University of Alberta; declares an advisory role (unpaid) with the Global Environment Outlook of the UN Environment Programme and the Indigenous Peoples Food and Agriculture Organization. All other authors declare no competing interests. All authors declare no other support from any organisation for the submitted work, no other financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 36 months, and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.
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