Geneva. 3 March 2016.  Permanent Representative to the U.N. and Other International Organizations, Ambassador Cecilia B. Rebong, congratulated Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization after the latter delivered the keynote speech at a High Level Panel on Climate Change and the Right to Health.

Dr. Chan presented WHO studies pointing to the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. She said that climate change caused a large number of deaths and the proliferation and exacerbation of diseases.

For her part, Ambassador Rebong stressed the timeliness of the panel discussion, which was organized right after the adoption of the human rights language, for the first time, in a legally binding climate change agreement. 

Ambassador Rebong pointed out that the Preamble of the Paris Agreement states that “parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”

Organized by the Permanent Mission of the Philippines with partner states and in coordination with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the panel discussion addressed the relationship between climate change and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

It also provided an opportunity for UN member states, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of the right to health.