Funds required in early warnings, climate-resilient health infrastructure, say researchers
If governments do not prioritise adaptation in the health sector, the authors explained, vulnerable countries will suffer an increased health burden, which will lead to economic and non-economic loss and damage driven by climate change. Photo: iStock_ Only 4.9 per cent of adaptation financing from international funding sources has been committed to the health sector from 2009–2019, according to a new study.
The findings, published in PLOS Global Public Health, highlight that health systems have not been receiving the funding it needs to adapt to climate change.
“Climate finance has historically focused on sectors at high risk such as energy or agriculture; health ministries have historically lacked information on climate financing opportunities and health investments do not lead to immediately obvious economic growth,” the authors wrote in the paper.
In 2009, developed countries agreed to jointly mobilise $100 billion annually to help developing nations mitigate and adapt to climate change. The goal has not been met and has been postponed to 2023.
Global health adaptation needs amount to $26.8-29.4 billion annually by 2050, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Adaptation financing in the health sector could be channelled into improving the health infrastructure’s resilience to shocks and stresses, utilising early warning systems for extreme weather events or climate-sensitive infectious diseases, enhancing disease surveillance, developing heat health action plans as well as expanding mental health and psychosocial healthcare, and the like.
If governments do not prioritise adaptation in the health sector, the authors explained, vulnerable countries will suffer an increased health burden, which will lead to economic and non-economic loss and damage driven by climate change.
Health vulnerability & volumes of funding
Researchers from Europe affiliated with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre combed through two databases: Climate Funds Updates and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Development Assistance Committee database.
The former contains information on climate adaptation and mitigation projects funded by multilateral organisations like Green Climate Fund, while the latter hosts information on climate adaptation and mitigation projects funded by bilateral sources from individual countries and some multilateral organisations.
The researchers found 10,120 multilateral and bilateral adaptation projects from the two databases between 2009 and 2019. Of them, they shortlisted 509 health adaptation projects for further analysis.
Multilateral donors funded 52 health projects worth $521.8 million. This constitutes 1.8 per cent of total adaptation financing or 5.7 per cent of total multilateral adaptation funding.
Bilateral donors had a larger share. They contributed to 457 health projects worth $910.1 million. This makes up 3.1 per cent of total adaptation financing or 4.6 per cent of total bilateral adaptation funding, the findings stated.
Overall, both bilateral and multilateral donors committed $1,431 million (4.9 per cent) of adaptation finance to health activities.
Among the donors, European Union institutions contributed 26.06 per cent ($373.1 million) of total funding, followed by the Green Climate Fund’s 21.93 per cent ($314.0 million) and the US’s 11.68 per cent ($167.3 million).
The lion’s share of the finances was channelled into sub-Saharan Africa, receiving 61.8 per cent of total finances and 313 projects from both bilateral and multilateral donors.
India, which is categorised as a lower middle-income country with high health vulnerability, has secured nine projects worth $4.01 million in a decade, data showed.
Among projects with health as the main objective, food security received the highest funding, followed by health systems, surveillance and outbreak management and clean drinking water supplies.
The researchers noted that there is a need for more projects focussing on heat health action plans, mental health and psychosocial health, early warnings and early action plans, building climate resilient health infrastructure and systems, reducing global health inequity and the development of Health Action Plans, as well as full implementation of health-climate strategies and plans.
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