Roundtable: "The Climate-Health Nexus: A Geopolitical and Financial Imperative"
On 29th April 2025, the Wildlife Conservation Society EU Office (WCS EU) had the pleasure of participating in a roundtable discussion on "The Climate-Health Nexus: A Geopolitical and Financial Imperative", organised by the Africa-Europe Foundation and The Elders Foundation.
It was inspiring to exchange views on how the Africa-Europe partnership can drive a step-change in climate-health-biodiversity cooperation, with members of The Elders, including Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of WHO, Dr Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the Panzi Hospital and Foundation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Honorary Co-President of the Africa-Europe Foundation.
Participants at the roundtable organised by the Africa-Europe Foundation and The Elders Foundation
WCS EU Director, Dr. Janice Weatherley Singh emphasised that the climate and health nexus is underpinned by biodiversity and ecosystem health which are fundamentally important for climate mitigation and adaptation, and for human and animal health. WCS has been promoting the concept of ecological integrity – particularly the conservation of the last remaining areas of high ecological integrity. This refers to the ecological structure, composition and function – and provides a useful measure of healthy ecosystems which support wildlife and underpin vital ecosystem services.
WCS EU Director, Dr. Janice Weatherley Singh speaking at the roundtable
The interlinked global crises of biodiversity loss, climate change, and threats to human and wildlife health are continuing to accelerate, posing existential threats to biodiversity and human well-being and undermining efforts to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). Maintaining and improving ecological integrity – is central to addressing all these crises, and is recognised in the KM-GBF and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. It is therefore critical to focus conservation efforts to preserve and restore the integrity of key ecosystems and the services they provide to protect both biodiversity and benefit the people who depend on them. We need to increase synergies between biodiversity-climate-health at upcoming biodiversity and climate COPs.
In its next EU budget, the EU must fulfil its commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and increase its investment in nature because of the essential role it plays in supporting communities and economies and in tackling climate change. This includes the financing of ambitious initiatives that protect key biodiversity and high-integrity ecosystems, such as the NaturAfrica initiative, which brings together conservation, the green economy and community development. Read more