The effects of climate change are being increasingly felt today and forecasts represent potentially disastrous risk to human health in the future. Policy responses are therefore imperative in countries in order to ensure the protection of the people’s health.

“Climate change could be the biggest global health threat of the 21st century”, the Lancet warned in May 2009 (1). Yet in current climate debates, health is still being treated as a peripheral matter. The WHO Conference on Health and Climate in August 2014, reviewed the strong scientific evidence of the grave impact of climate change on health. Notwithstanding extreme weather disasters, WHO estimates that climate change will cause an additional 250 000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. Most will likely perish from malaria, diarrhoea, heat exposure and under-nutrition (2). Children and the elderly will be among the most vulnerable. Areas with weak health infrastructure will be least able to cope and developing countries will be hardest hit. The health gaps we have been trying hard to close may grow even wider.