WONCA signs fossil free communication commitment

WONCA – the World Organization of Family Doctors – has signed the Fossil Free Communication Commitment, a global initiative led by the Climate and Health Alliance. This step confirms WONCA’s commitment to aligning its communication practices with its mission to protect health, promote climate action, and uphold ethical standards.

The commitment, approved by the WONCA Executive Committee in March 2025, means WONCA will not work with PR or advertising agencies that represent fossil fuel companies or have contributed to misleading campaigns about climate or health impacts. It reflects a growing movement within the health sector to cut ties with industries that are driving the climate crisis and endangering public health.

Fossil fuel combustion is a leading cause of air pollution and climate change, contributing to over 7 million premature deaths each year globally due to air pollution alone. It also accelerates extreme heat, water scarcity, food insecurity, and the spread of infectious diseases — all of which are increasingly visible in family doctors’ everyday work.

Health sector leadership

Family doctors are seeing the real-world health impacts of fossil fuels in their clinics, from respiratory illness to climate-related trauma. It is time for the health community to speak clearly: we will not allow our communication platforms to be used — directly or indirectly — to promote fossil fuel interests. This commitment strengthens WONCA’s stance for health, equity, and environmental justice."

The Fossil Free Communication Commitment calls on health organisations to:

• Prioritise working with agencies that do not represent fossil fuel clients
• Avoid agencies engaged in greenwashing or disinformation
• Require transparency in agency client portfolios
• Use their platforms to promote ethical, climate-conscious communication

WONCA joins over 200 health organisations globally in endorsing fossil-free communications, including the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, Doctors for the Environment Australia, and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

A continued commitment

This pledge builds on WONCA’s wider climate and planetary health work. At the WONCA World Conference in Sydney in 2023, WONCA signed an open letter — A Call to Secure a Just and Equitable Transition to Sustainable Energy and Safeguard Health — alongside 40 other organisations, representing over 3 million health professionals. The letter urged world leaders to:

• End expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure
• Phase out fossil fuel production
• Remove fossil fuel subsidies
• Invest in renewable energy and a just transition for all communities

The letter was shared on behalf of the WONCA Working Party on Planetary Health, which leads WONCA’s work on the climate crisis and sustainable health systems. The Working Party continues to produce guidance and advocate for action across regions, supporting family doctors to address the climate emergency in clinical practice and policy engagement.

Protecting health from disinformation

The Fossil Free Communication Commitment also aims to counter the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long strategy of disinformation, which has delayed meaningful climate action. Research shows that major fossil fuel companies have spent millions on PR campaigns that mimic tactics used by the tobacco industry — sowing doubt, promoting false solutions, and lobbying against climate policies.

Health organisations, as some of the most trusted voices in society, have a responsibility to reject this influence. By cutting ties with fossil fuel-linked communications firms, WONCA helps ensure the credibility of its messaging and the integrity of public health advocacy.

This step is not just symbolic — it is strategic. The global healthcare advertising market is projected to reach over $64 billion by 2032. The values behind that spend matter. WONCA hopes that by taking this stand, more health organisations will follow.

The Commitment

As organisations dedicated to protecting and promoting public health, we recognise the profound and growing threats that fossil fuels pose to human health and the environment. The fossil fuel industry’s contribution to climate change, air, water and soil pollution, and related public health crises makes it incompatible with our mission to safeguard the well-being of current and future generations.

In order to align our communications practices with our commitment to public health and climate action, we commit to:

1. Fossil-Free PR and Advertising: Work exclusively with PR and advertising agencies that do not have ongoing relationships with fossil fuel companies or related industries.
2. Reject Greenwashing and Disinformation: Avoid collaborating with agencies that have promoted misleading campaigns about the health or environmental impacts of fossil fuels.
3. Transparency and Accountability: Require agencies to disclose their client portfolios and confirm they do not represent fossil fuel interests.
4. Alignment with Health and Climate Values: Engage only with agencies that promote climate action, health equity, and sustainable futures.
5. Advocate for Ethical Communication: Use our platforms to encourage other organisations to make similar commitments and adopt fossil-free standards.

Our Call to Action

We encourage all medical, public health, and allied organisations to join us in this commitment. By rejecting fossil fuel influence in communications and aligning with ethical, transparent agencies, we take an essential step toward dismantling the disinformation campaigns that fuel climate inaction and health harm.

This is a call for integrity in public health communication — and for collective action to protect the health of people and the planet.

Approved by the WONCA Executive Committee, March 2025.