It’s More Than Opposition to ‘Gender’ – Interlinkages with Climate Change Denial and the Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Organisation

Rationale: To develop a conceptual framework to better understand the implications of intersecting politics on health and the challenges this creates for global health governance. This article will explore the links between three core issues of reproductive rights, climate change, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, as initial research has shown there is an alignment of right- and far-right actors who mobilise in opposition to these topics in international forums. Material and methods: This article will focus on the WHO Executive Board and World Health Assembly discussions in 2024. A review of the literature will look at the opposition on the themes of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights; climate change; and the WHO Pandemic Agreement, to provide insights into the opposition in relation to these themes and who the actors are. A mapping of Think Tanks across Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States will be done including a search of policy stances on the three themes on their websites. The criteria used in selecting Think Tanks will be based on self-declared stances on their websites, and whether there was ideology related to libertarianism or conservatism underpinning it. We will narrow the inclusion to larger and more influential Think Tanks which are able to have a greater influence on policies and political discourse and who are known to engage in influencing transnationally. We will also conduct key informant interviews with stakeholders, such as diplomats, civil society, and United Nations staff, in order to gain expert insights into the opposition and tactics taking place. Framework analysis (Srivastava & Thomson, 2009) will be used to identify themes and index and chart themes into categories. These will give insights on how actors attempt to influence global decision making on topics of global health importance.