Climate change kills 250,000 people every year, experts say One in four deaths can be attributed to preventable environmental causes, according to statistics read at a meeting kicking off New York Climate Week.

 International health ministers agreed to prioritize the development of climate-friendly healthcare systems and advocate for climate finance, at a meeting in New York on Monday.

Organized by the World Health Organization and the COP28 Presidency, health leaders discussed the dangerous intersection between climate and health, part of the kick-off events to New York Climate Week held annually during the United Nations General Assembly.

Climate Week New York is the largest annual climate event, pulling together some 400 events and activities across the city. The international NGO Climate Group organizes it with the UN and the City of New York.

Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman was in Washington on Monday, where she signed an MOU to cooperate on climate change with the US Environmental Protection Agency. She arrived in New York on Tuesday for the UNGA and to participate in additional meetings, including the SDG Summit on the global implementation of the UN’s sustainable development goals, a ministerial gathering on biodiversity, and a discussion on food systems.

Silman will also meet with counterparts and other stakeholders to discuss collaboration at COP28.

“The most compelling reasons for climate action are not in the future – they’re right here and right now,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, on Monday. “The climate crisis drives the extreme weather that is taking lives around the world, fuels the spread of infectious and noncommunicable disease, and undermines food security.”