GENEVA — October 2025 — The global movement linking climate resilience and health systems has reached a major milestone. Tuvalu has become the 100th country to join the World Health Organization’s Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH), marking a growing consensus that protecting public health must be central to the global climate agenda.
With the addition of the Cook Islands, Malaysia, and Tuvalu, ATACH now counts 100 countries and territories dedicated to taking climate action for health. The Alliance’s members span every region and represent a dynamic network of governments, development partners, and civil society working to make health systems climate-resilient, sustainable, and low-carbon.
Building a Climate-Resilient Health Future
Launched following the COP26 Health Commitment, ATACH is a voluntary global platform that enables countries to share knowledge, tools, and technical support for integrating climate action into national health strategies. The goal: to ensure that health systems can withstand the growing impacts of heat, vector-borne diseases, food insecurity, and extreme weather, while also reducing their own carbon footprint.
New members joined between July and October 2025, reflecting expanding recognition that climate change poses an immediate threat to both human and economic wellbeing.
“With 100 UN Member States now committing to climate and health action, the Alliance is working to secure and green the future of global health,” WHO said in a statement marking the milestone.
From Small Islands to Emerging Economies
Each of the three new members faces distinct climate-health risks:
- Tuvalu, the smallest WHO Member State and among the most climate-vulnerable nations on Earth, has long championed the intersection of health and climate policy.
- The Cook Islands, another small island developing state, is working to strengthen local capacity to manage the health effects of rising sea levels and warming oceans.
- Malaysia, a fast-growing economy with abundant natural resources, is investing in sustainable growth and health resilience to protect its population against the twin threats of pollution and climate extremes.
Their participation underscores the diversity of ATACH’s membership and the shared understanding that no country is immune from the health consequences of a changing climate.
A Platform for Shared Solutions
ATACH now connects 100 countries and more than 95 partner organizations, from UN agencies and development banks to academic institutions and NGOs. Through the Alliance, members exchange technical expertise and real-world lessons on building climate-ready hospitals, improving disease surveillance, and integrating environmental sustainability into healthcare delivery.
By coordinating across borders, countries are identifying scalable models to reduce emissions from health systems—responsible for nearly 5% of global greenhouse gases—and to direct resources where health and climate risks overlap most severely.
WHO’s Call to Action
The World Health Organization has welcomed the new members and encouraged remaining countries to join the Alliance.
“We urge all nations to become members of ATACH and make faster progress toward protecting health systems from the effects of climate change,” WHO stated.
The milestone highlights a growing shift in global health governance: moving from reactive emergency response toward proactive adaptation and mitigation that embeds climate resilience in national health planning.
The Policy Takeaway
For governments and development partners, ATACH’s 100-country milestone demonstrates that climate action and public health are now inseparable priorities. As nations confront rising disease burdens and environmental shocks, coordinated investment in resilient health systems has become a defining test of preparedness — and a cornerstone of achieving health for all in a warming world.
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