In 2017, the World Health Organisation started the process of developing a global action plan for physical activity (GAPPA). This was a major step forward by WHO as part of its commitment to non-communicable disease prevention. This talk will describe the process of developing GAPPA, as it was somewhat different to usual WHO planning processes. Unlike the usual health-centric consultation, WHO used a broader and cross-sectoral base for the consultations around physical activity, including discussions with a broad range of health professionals, sport, education, urban planning and transport, all of whom have an important direct or indirect role in physical activity promotion. WHO has also set targets of a 10% relative reduction in physical inactivity by 2025, and a 15% reduction by 2030. The global action plan, launched in 2018, was comprised of four sections: [i] creating active societies and changing social norms to become more supportive of physical activity in everyday life; [ii] creating environments that are conducive to active living; [iii] supporting people through health sector advice and counselling to be more active, and including physical activity promotion in clinical consultations; and [iv] building an integrated system in which physical activity is easier in society, which involves collaboration across agencies and sectors, to create a more active world. This is a bold action plan by WHO and warrants as much support and advocacy to governments at every level as we can muster.