What does it take to achieve health equity in the EU?

Marking a decade of Planetary Health, this series features stories from our member organizations to reflect the movement’s growth, impact, and vision for a healthier future for people and planet. 

Based in Belgium, the Planetary Health Working Group of Be-cause Health was created to bridge the gap between climate justice and health equity—bringing together academics, health actors, policy makers, humanitarians, and citizens around a shared vision for healthier people on a thriving planet.

In 2024, the group co-organized the expert conference “Towards Health Equity: Strong Health Systems, Universal Health Coverage and Social Participation” with the Belgian EU Council Presidency and ENABEL, convening more than 230 participants from Europe and Africa. Discussions underscored how climate change, biodiversity loss, and other environmental pressures are deepening long-standing health inequities and exposing weaknesses in health systems—while progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has stalled.

Participants called for urgent implementation of the EU Global Health Strategy, with concrete actions to deliver health across the life course, advance UHC, and integrate a One Health and Planetary Health approach to emerging climate and health threats. They emphasized the critical role of social participation, protection of civic space, and strong accountability mechanisms to keep health—human and planetary—at the top of the EU and global agenda.