Africa’s extreme weather deaths triple as climate adaptation funding lags: Lancet Countdown

The health consequences of climate change are escalating swiftly throughout African nations, despite their minimal contribution to worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent report published in the journel Lancet Countdown Africa, a global research partnership.

According to the paper, African nations are already facing severe climate-related risks, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, food insecurity, malnutrition, vector-borne diseases, and displacement.

To address this need, the Lancet Countdown is initiating a new project aimed at fostering a transdisciplinary research partnership to enhance regional capabilities, reinforce current networks, produce evidence and coordinate data across various fields at the intersection of climate change and health in Africa.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of life-threatening extreme weather events, the authors of the report highlighted. High ambient temperature and heatwaves increase morbidity and mortality in Africa, especially for children younger than five years and people aged 65 years or older.

The number of people killed by extreme weather events in Africa tripled in 2023, rising from around 4,000 deaths in 2022 to 15,000 by the end of 2023, the findings showed.

In 2023, Libya experienced severe flooding in September, resulting in 11,300 fatalities. That same year, floods in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo claimed 3,000 lives.

From 2020 to 2023, countries in the Horn of Africa experienced the worst droughts seen in the region in 40 years, leading to water rationing, food insecurity and malnutrition. 

Countries at high risk of climate-related events are left in a state of constant response, which diverts scarce funds that are intended for equally important development and public health commitments to extreme weather emergency response. 

Adaptation, planning, resilience for health

Although Africa faces severe risks from climate change-related events, its adaptation efforts have been slow and inadequate. This shortall is driven by multiple factors, such as limited financial resources and insufficient technical assistance.

Funding for adaptation — particularly health adaptation — is sparse in Africa, and most global climate financing has focused primarily on mitigation actions. 

From 2014 to 2018, funding from both bilateral and multilateral sources for climate adaptation in Africa amounted to $16.5 billion, which was only half the $30.6 billion allocated for mitigation efforts.

Sustainable adaptation to climate change in Africa requires scaled-up, accessible and flexible funding for adaptation. Funding is needed across all systems that support and sustain health (such as urban planning, emergency response, disaster risk reduction and health systems more widely). 

To address pressing challenges across the continent, the Lancet Countdown has established a new regional centre in Africa. This hub will bring together local experts and institutions to produce context-specific evidence, monitor health metrics linked to climate change, and provide African policymakers with reliable data to guide climate-related decisions.

Director of Lancet Countdown Africa, Professor Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, said the centre will play a pivotal role as climate impacts intensify. “The Centre will elevate the African voice in global discourse and support the translation of global climate commitments into meaningful actions.”