Adaptation finance crucial to strengthen health in the face of life-threatening climate conditions
About 80 countries and organisations came together at COP30 in Belem, Brazil to launch the Belem Action Plan for Health and Climate Adaptation, aimed at strengthening global health systems to cope better with impacts of climate change.
Meanwhile, about 35 philanthropies, under the banner of Climate and Health Funders Coalition, announced an initial commitment of US $300 million for integrated action to deal with both the causes of climate change as well as its consequences on human health. This money would also support the implementation of the Belem Health Action Plan and be used for accelerating health solutions where they are needed the most, a statement said.
At an event organised by the COP30 organisers, Global Climate and Health Alliance and Carbon Copy, speakers highlighted the acute finance gap for adaptation and even lesser for health-focused adaptation plans.
“Each year, more than half a million lives are lost due to heat, and over 150,000 deaths are linked to wildfire smoke exposure. Health systems, already stretched and underfunded, are struggling to cope with these growing pressures, and most are still unprepared for what is coming,” said Dr Marina Romanello, Lancet Countdown Executive Director, Institute for Global Health, University College London.
The 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change, which has documented the global health impact of climate change, is the basis for the Belem Action Plan on Health.
This report, published last month, had revealed that the number of climate change-related deaths was in the millions, and millions more were affected by extreme heat, extreme rainfall and flooding, ever more vicious storms and creeping desertification.
The discussion at the Belem event highlighted that the health finance gap was a critical component of the overall adaptation finance gap, and the world’s inaction was further compounding the situation and the cost.
The latest Adaptation Gap Report had estimated that developing countries’ requirements would be in the range of US $310-365 billion a year by 2035. The international community is struggling to mobilise the US $40 billion annual flows that was promised in Glasgow in 2021.
“According to India’s 2023 national communication to the UNFCCC, the country will require $643 billion between now and 2030 to adapt to climate change under a business-as-usual scenario,” said Dr Vishwas Chitale, Fellow, Council for Energy, Environment & Water, India and Research Fellow, United Nations. “India has made significant progress, spending $146 billion in 2021-2022 alone, the equivalent of 5.6% of GDP, a remarkable rise from 3.7% spent in 2015-2016.”
