G7 Health Ministers Back IANPHI's Climate Roadmap in Statement

In a joint statement after two days of meetings in Berlin, the health leaders recognized NPHIs' essential role in climate action, committed to enhanced collaboration between the G7 public health institutes on that topic, and backed the IANPHI Roadmap for Action on Health and Climate Change.

“As national public health institutes are key players in strengthening environmental health protection, we will promote the collaboration of the G7 public health institutes on climate and environmental health impacts," the statement reads. "We also support the Roadmap for Action on Health and Climate Change of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI).”

The IANPHI roadmap highlights and advocates for the existing and potential role of NPHIs in climate adaptation and mitigation, and how they contribute to climate policies, research and action. Motivated by the urgent need to act for the benefit of public health with regards to the degradation of natural systems, IANPHI advocates for the development of NPHIs’ capacity globally to be key actors of climate mitigation and adaptation. The roadmap is available in English, Arabic, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

In the 12-page communiqué, the health ministers also announced a G7 Pact for Pandemic Readiness – a coordinated approach to strengthen and align their efforts for worldwide pandemic readiness in close cooperation with the World Health Organization and other global health partners. They addressed what is still needed to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and to tackle the “silent pandemic” of antimicrobial resistance.

The G7 is an informal forum of seven leading industrial nations and democracies, which brings together Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the European Union as a "non-enumerated member".