The Wellcome Trust and the IPCC brought together global expertise at a Co-sponsored Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Health, held from 27–29 January 2026 at the Wellcome Trust headquarters in London.
Nearly 90 experts from across regions, disciplines, and fields of practice came together with a shared ambition: to strengthen how climate and health interactions are assessed across the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). The meeting created a dedicated space for bold thinking, collaboration, and practical problem-solving at a pivotal moment in the AR7 cycle.
The meeting focused on three core objectives:
- Identifying policy-relevant climate and health evidence gaps
Strengthening the connection between research and decision-making by considering the new evidence on climate and health that has emerged since AR6, the evidence gaps that remain, and the evidence that policymakers need for health-sensitive responses to climate change. - Deepening collaboration across Working Groups
Bringing disciplines and IPCC Working Groups closer together to support more integrated, coherent, and consistent health assessments across IPCC AR7 products. - Delivering practical guidance for AR7
Developing concrete suggestions and recommendations on priority areas for climate and health, including scenarios, indicators, engagement with diverse knowledge systems, and approaches for assessing robust health evidence in AR7.
The Expert Meeting was highly collaborative, with participants working together to exchange perspectives, test ideas, and co-develop recommendations for the IPCC. It provided a unique opportunity for experts, authors, and IPCC Bureau members to engage directly, bridge communities, and advance critical discussions on climate and health. These conversations come at a crucial time in the IPCC assessment cycle and have the potential to support ongoing work on climate-health topics in the Seventh Assessment Report.