MEDIA ADVISORY

Launch of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health

TIME: 09 GMT / 10 BST / 11 CEST

LOCATION: The Harpa Center, Reykjavik, Iceland (+ online)

In response to escalating climate-driven health threats, including emergencies, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) is launching the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health (PECCH) – a bold new initiative to confront the defining health challenge of our time.

Chaired by former Icelandic Prime Minister H.E. Katrín Jakobsdóttir and supported by Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Sir Andrew Haines from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the PECCH brings together 11 Commissioners from across the WHO European Region. All of them bring a rich diversity of experience at the helm of political and scientific, national and international European institutions and organizations, to deliver recommendations for actionable solutions at the intersection of health and climate.

Full list of Commission members including biographies available here.

SPEAKERS:

• Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe; convener of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health
• H.E. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Chair of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health; former Prime Minister of Iceland
• Professor Sir Andrew Haines, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health; Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Journalists based in Iceland are encouraged to attend in person in the capital Reykjavik. Kindly confirm attendance by writing to the emails below.

Journalists can also join online via Zoom. Please ensure you enter your name and outlet in your profile.

To ask a question, please click “raise hand” and this will enter you into the pool for questions.

Please make sure you have a microphone connected or active on your computer. Alternatively, use the chat function.

CONNECTION DETAILS:

• https://who.zoom.us/j/94409667217
• Passcode: KHW=P5Sd

PRESS CONTACTS:  

• Bhanu Bhatnagar: bbhatnagar@who.int 
• Marie Wolf: mwolf@who.int
• James Creswick: creswickj@who.int