A $300 million investment in projects integrating health into climate action has been announced at the UN Climate Conference in Bélem, Brazil by a coalition of “Climate and Health Funders Coalition” which includes over 35 of the world’s leading philanthropies and foundations, including Rockefeller, Gates and Wellcome. 

This announcement was made at the high-level opening of the COP30 Health Day – where a new Bélem Health Action Plan was launched. The Action Plan aims to thrust climate adaptation for the health sector more squarely into the centre of climate actions and tracking, making it part of the global stocktaking exercise. 

“Adaptation is a question of survival in the short run,” declared Brazil’s Minister of Health,  Alexandre Padilha, while launching the Action Plan. “The most recent Lancet Countdown Report on Climate and Health is clear – 3.3 to 3.6 billion people live in highly vulnerable climate areas – and hospitals [in those areas] face a 41% risk of suffering from extreme weather events.

“If you don’t adapt, it threatens the coverage of health services of patients and professionals who are already facing adverse conditions. If we don’t adapt, we are going to increase inequality. In short, if you don’t adapt, we will kill people,” he added.

The funding coalition aims to “accelerate solutions, innovations, policies and research on extreme heat, air pollution and climate-sensitive infectious diseases,” the partners said in a press release Thursday. 

While the $300 million commitment may be a drop in the bucket of needs, the aim is to expand the fund, coalition members told Health Policy Watch, “It is just initial funding and we intend to bring in more funds and philanthropies in the year ahead as well as work with public and private sector funders.”

“The warnings from scientists on climate change have become reality. And, it is clear that not all people are affected equally”, said John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of the Wellcome Trust. “The impacts of rising temperatures hit the most vulnerable people hardest – children, pregnant people, older people, outdoor workers and those communities with the least resources to respond. Every country in the world is now affected by climate change, and we need to develop and implement solutions fast to save lives and livelihoods.” 

“Every person should have the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life, no matter where they were born,” said Steve Davis, Senior Advisor for Philanthropic Partnerships at the Gates Foundation. 

“But a hotter world with less predictable and more extreme weather is threatening that vision for the future, particularly for people in low- and middle-income countries. Philanthropy has a unique role to play in contributing flexible funding to accelerate innovative solutions that protect health and help communities build resilience to climate shocks,” he said. 

Other big names in the development sector that have signed onto the coalition plan include: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and Philanthropy Asia Alliance.

Climate data and heat adaptation 

The Coalition’s funds are aimed to “support” the Bélem Health Action Plan through funding of projects on the ground, one Coalition spokesperson said, citing projects on: adaptation to extreme heat in India, collecting climate and weather data in Africa, and combating air pollution, whose emissions also contribute to climate change: 

“In extreme heat, one example organization the Coalition is supporting is the Indian nonprofit Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). SEWA is the largest movement of informal workers in India – and one of the largest in the world – with over 3.2 million members. SEWA works to address the threats that extreme heat poses to health and livelihoods,” the coalition spokesperson said.

Another project receiving support is The African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD). It is the primary pan-African centre working to collect, analyze, and disseminate weather and climate data across the continent, supporting national meteorological agencies and governments in all 53 African countries.

“By coming together to align our priorities and combine our resources, this coalition can accelerate solutions faster, reach more communities, and achieve greater impact. This is the power of collaboration: recognizing the urgency of the challenge and working as one to protect lives, strengthen health systems, and build resilience for communities around the world,” said Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President of Health at The Rockefeller Foundation, in the press release.

Making the Bélem COP, a health COP

Brazilian authorities have long said that they hope to make this COP a “health COP” – after it played a largely backstage role at COP29 in Azerbaijan. COP28 featured the first Health Day at a UN Climate Conference, with high-powered speakers like Bill Gates and then-US Climate Envoy John Kerry on the podium.  

While the health impacts of climate change have been intensifying, health has, however, remained on the fringes of mainstream COP debates and decisions. 

It remains to be see if the Belém Health Action Plan can win widespread political buy-in and finance to empower countries to make health a more central element in their climate action agendas in the health sector.  

Along with “adaptation”, however, the massive health benefits of mitigating climate change in other sectors from transport to energy production and housing, have yet to be formally recognized by climate negotiators – benefits that could save tens of millions of lives across the coming decade, through reduced heat exposures, less air pollution, and more physical activity as well as healthier diets and food security.  

“The health consequences of climate change are mounting, and they fall hardest on communities least equipped to respond. By supporting the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, we’re working to build health systems that are resilient, equitable, and prepared for the challenges ahead,” said Jess Ayers, CEO of the Quadrature Climate Foundation.

Image Credits: Abir Abdullah / Climate Visuals, Alastair Johnstone / Climate Visuals, X/@Cop30noBrasil, X/@Cop30noBrasil.