India on Sunday refrained from signing the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, with sources pointing out that curbing greenhouse gas use for cooling in the health sector, which is one of the points in the document, may not be practical or achievable within the country’s healthcare infrastructure in the short term.

The Health Day also did not see any participation from the Indian Health Ministry delegation even though India extended support to the ministerial hosted by the COP28 Presidency, the World Health Organisation and the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Sunday.

The declaration calls for climate action to achieve “benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including from just transitions, lower air pollution, active mobility, and shifts to sustainable healthy diets”.