Human health needs to be at the heart of our response to the unfolding climate crisis if we are to succeed in limiting the significant risks to population health. That was the main message to emerge at a major all-island conference on climate change and health in November 2022. The Joint Public Health Conference on 30 November 2022 attracted close to 1,000 health professionals, researchers, policymakers, and NGOs from across the island and beyond to consider the implications and risks of climate change to our health. In the wake of COP27, the one-day conference provided a timely opportunity to cast a health lens on the global climate crisis, which has the potential to exacerbate existing health inequalities on the island of Ireland and amplify the pressures on our health and social care systems.