Professor John Coggon appointed to World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group on Ethics and Climate Health

Professor John Coggon, Chair in Law at the University of Bristol Law School.

13 December 2023

The Law School’s Professor John Coggon has been appointed to a World Health Organization technical advisory group on embedding ethics in health and climate change policy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises climate change as the biggest health threat facing humanity, with the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health.

To address this threat, the WHO is committed to working with Member States, UN and other international agencies and the wider global health and research community to deliver a range of supporting tools and materials to help navigate ethical issues across the health (and health research) and climate change field and embed them effectively in relevant policies.

Professor John Coggon, a member of the Centre for Health, Law, and Society in the University of Bristol Law School, is one of the thirteen members of the WHO’s new Technical Advisory Group on Ethics and Climate Health who will serve in their personal capacities to represent the broad range of disciplines relevant to ethics and climate change and health.

Professor Coggon said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to bring my expertise in law, governance, and the philosophy of public health, alongside longstanding interests in embedding ethics in policy and practice, to this important role.

“The crucial synergies between health and climate policy, and the vital place of ethical values that are engaged, underpin the significance of this advisory group’s role and the work to which it will contribute.”

The technical advisory group will provide advice on issues including the identification of stakeholders in the field of health and climate change, inclusive engagement processes and considerations of the rights and responsibilities of different stakeholders in ethical decision-making.

Their expertise will contribute to the development of supporting tools, frameworks and guidance to support the successful inclusion of ethical considerations in policy and decision making in climate change and health.

Find out more about the Advisory Group on the WHO website.

Further information

Professor John Coggon is Chair in Law in the Centre for Health, Law, and Society at the University of Bristol Law School. He is also a member of the University of Bristol’s Population Health Science Institute and Centre for Public Health. Beyond the University, he is an Honorary Member of the UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH), sits on the ethics committees of the FPH and the British Medical Journal, and is a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. John’s research focuses especially on philosophical and socio-legal questions in public and global health ethics and law and mental capacity law, examined in particular through methods of moral and political analysis.

The Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) promotes cross-disciplinary and cross-sector perspectives on the impacts of law and governance on physical, mental and social wellbeing. Based within the University of Bristol Law School, the CHLS comprises leading scholars whose work focuses on wide-ranging practical areas from within and far beyond health care systems, including clinical medicine, reproductive care, mental health, social care, and public and global health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations agency dedicated to global health and safety. The Organization connects nations, partners and communities to promote health and serve the vulnerable. The WHO works with its Member States to achieve the highest level of health for all people by pursuing universal health coverage.