By P Gosselin on 26. May 2026
We want our crises back!
Germany’s online WELT (published mid-May 2026) outlines a major health and climate policy demand made by a “high-level expert commission” to the World Health Organization (WHO).
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According to WELT, a pan-European expert commission on health and sustainable development, appointed by the WHO and chaired by former Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, is urging the WHO to declare the climate crisis a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” This is the WHO’s highest level of alert, which was previously triggered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Climate change an acute “medical emergency?
In its report, the commission emphasizes that the climate crisis is no longer an abstract threat to future generations. Instead, it is an acute danger to global health, security, social cohesion, and human rights.
Former German Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD socialists) is a member of this commission, and he strongly supports the proposal, calling climate change an acute “medical emergency.” He warned that climate change must be placed at the very top of the WHO’s agenda, arguing that waiting makes no sense given the severe health consequences, such as tens of thousands of heat-related deaths and the health impacts of fossil fuel combustion.
Phase out fossil fuels
The WHO report outlines concrete steps for action. Firstly, the WHO should establish a central “Climate Information Hub” to provide scientifically sound forecasts and fact-checks.
Secondly, national governments are urged to firmly anchor climate risks within their security and healthcare policies and to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.
The steps also call on the WHO reviewing every two years how well individual countries are preparing their healthcare systems for climate change. Furthermore, medical staff should receive better training in sustainability and climate adaptation.
The timing of the report’s submission was strategically chosen to precede the annual World Health Assembly of the WHO in Geneva, aiming to initiate a debate on updating international health regulations.
