Malaysia moves climate and health commitments towards action through ATACH

Climate change is increasingly affecting the health of populations and putting new pressures on health systems. Malaysia is strengthening efforts and building a health system that can withstand climate-related threats while reducing its own environmental footprint. 

Malaysia joined Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH) on 18 August 2025, committing to advance climate-resilient and low-carbon sustainable health systems. This connects Malaysia with a global network of countries and partners working to strengthen health-system preparedness and reduce the environmental impact of the health sector. 

The three-day workshop focused on translating Malaysia’s climate and health ambitions into priority areas for practical action, partnership and financing. 

Globally, floods, droughts, heatwaves, famine and changing weather patterns are increasing illness and deaths, and these challenges are becoming increasingly urgent. While health systems themselves need to adapt so they can continue delivering essential services as climate-related pressures grow. 

For Malaysia, climate change is also a health challenge. The country's tropical climate and exposure to flooding, extreme heat and changing rainfall patterns pose a growing risk to people's health. These include vector-borne and water-borne diseases, heat-related illness and the health effects of air pollution. At the same time, Malaysia has established health-system foundations and climate policy frameworks that provide an opportunity to integrate climate considerations more systematically into health planning, implementation and financing.  

The health sector also has another important role: reducing its own environmental impact and demonstrating leadership in the transition towards a more sustainable future.  

It is precisely this connection between protecting health from climate change and making health systems themselves more sustainable that sits at the heart of ATACH. 

“ATACH brings more than 107 Member States together creating a global network, committed to developing climate-resilient and low-carbon sustainable health systems. The network can support Malaysia in the implementation of a comprehensive National Health Adaptation Plan, and further strengthening implementation of Malaysia’s National Blueprint on Carbon-Neutral Healthcare Facilities” said Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO Representative to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. 

Turning commitments into practical action 

ATACH was established to help countries translate climate and health commitments into action through a country led process bring government, academia and civil society together as a country-led platform. Countries identify their own needs and priorities, while the alliance connects them with technical expertise, peer learning and practical support. Its work encompasses five key functions: advocacy and agenda-setting; alignment and coherence; finance; knowledge generation, sharing and capacity building; and monitoring and tracking.  

The need to connect commitments more closely with implementation was reflected in the workshop design. While the platform has been effective in advocacy, partnership-building and knowledge exchange, countries are seeking stronger implementation support. This includes better access to technical assistance, connections with partners and financing opportunities, usable knowledge products and stronger regional and country-level convening.  

Defining Malaysia's priorities 

For Malaysia, the workshop was designed to lead towards an initial set of national priorities for engagement through ATACH and identify where technical assistance, knowledge exchange, peer learning and partnerships could provide additional support. This workshop therefore centred on Malaysia's own climate and health landscape. The participants examined national policies and plans, ongoing initiatives, financing streams, stakeholders and existing mechanisms that could support the country's engagement through ATACH. They also considered capacity gaps and implementation challenges in areas including governance, the health workforce, infrastructure and health facilities, information and data systems and financing.  

Priorities under two central ATACH commitments were considered: building climate-resilient health systems and developing sustainable, low-carbon health systems. The process was designed to identify actions that build on existing national efforts while responding to identified gaps and considering feasibility.  

These ATACH commitment areas cover practical measures ranging from assessing climate-related health vulnerabilities and developing health adaptation plans to assessing greenhouse-gas emissions from health systems and developing roadmaps towards more sustainable, low-carbon health services and supply chains.  

The programme also provided opportunities to learn about practical experiences in developing climate-finance proposals and to match priorities identified during the workshop with potential funding mechanisms and partners.

Building resilience for the future