As climate impacts intensify, exacerbating trauma, food insecurity, displacement, and health inequities, mental health continues to be overlooked in climate strategies, underscoring the need for integrated action. Held in the wake of the Health Day deliberations at COP30, the webinar organized by the Health Diplomacy Youth Network responded to growing recognition of the psychological toll of climate change on vulnerable and climate-affected communities. With participation from youth leaders, environmental psychology experts, and community mental health practitioners, the session brought mental health to the forefront of climate diplomacy.

Ayesha Ali, Coordinator of the Commonwealth Youth Health Network, opened the session by highlighting the gap between policy commitments and real-world access to mental health services in climate-vulnerable regions, especially for women, rural populations, and young people.  

Matteo Consiglio, Lead, Food and Water Systems, Swiss Youth for Climate, underscored how climate-driven food insecurity contributes to anxiety, stress, and psychosocial instability, calling for stronger links between food systems, environment, and public health.

Dr. Jakub S. Bil, Universal Health Coverage Working Group Co-Chair, Global Mental Health Action Network, emphasized community-based and rights-based mental health approaches, noting that climate impacts frequently compound pre-existing trauma and inequities, and stressed co-design of solutions with affected communities as central to sustainable implementation.

Dr. Harshita Umesh, Focal Point, Health Working Group, YOUNGO, highlighted the limited integration of mental health within UNFCCC processes and called for mental health to be embedded across adaptation and disaster response mechanisms, while Dion Ras, Executive Committee Member, International Association for Youth Mental Health, brought a grassroots lens, emphasizing peer support, lived experience, and the need for accessible, youth-informed systems of care in the face of climate stressors. 

During the panel discussion, Ebunoluwa Ayinmode steered a conversation that underscored the gap between policy ambition and implementation, the invisibility of cumulative climate-related trauma in formal frameworks, and the need for health diplomacy to align institutions, communities, and youth constituencies around shared priorities 

This event marks an important step in elevating the climate–mental health objectives enshrined in the Belem Health Action Plan by mobilizing diverse expertise, amplifying youth and community voices, and identifying practical pathways for integrated, equity-focused action. The Health Diplomacy Youth Network remains committed to advancing diplomatic engagement, intergenerational collaboration, and evidence-based advocacy to ensure that mental health becomes a central pillar of climate resilience.