Dear colleagues and friends,

Good afternoon, and welcome to WHO. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet with all of you today.

When I came into office five years ago, I made climate change and health one of the top priorities for WHO.

Today, this priority is even more critical.

When I participated in my first COP in 2017 to launch the Special Initiative on Small Island Developing States, I had the chance to meet with many NGOs working on climate change and public health.

I asked them to put together a workplan to facilitate and strengthen our collaboration between WHO and civil society.

I know that you have been working very hard with us these past years.

It has been a fruitful collaboration, and we have achieved a lot: the Healthy Climate Prescription letter, the Health and Green Economy letter, regional consultations on climate and health; the COP26 Special Report on the Health Argument for Climate Action, as well as global advocacy and joint activities at the margin of climate conferences, to name a few.

We have just submitted another call for global action - a joint letter supporting the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.

The modern addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of environmental vandalism.

In terms of human health, it is an act of self-sabotage.

We can all see how extreme weather events are becoming more and more frequent and severe - from floods in Pakistan, to heatwaves in Europe, to droughts in China and parts of Africa.

These disasters are affecting millions of people worldwide.

On top of that, the pollutants pumped into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels kill an estimated seven million people each year.

Today's dialogue is an opportunity to focus on how we can work together to address climate change, with health as the key driver.

I look forward to our discussion to learn more on what your organizations are doing and how we can work together for even more fruitful collaborations in the future.

I thank you.