Climate Crisis Emerges as Major Global Health Emergency at COP30

Dar es Salaam. As COP30 unfolds in the Amazon city of Belém, Brazil, health experts and climate negotiators are raising an urgent alarm that the climate crisis has become one of the most severe global health emergencies of the 21st century.

Yet, financial support for countries suffering the worst impacts remains critically inadequate, especially when it comes to addressing loss and damage linked to health.

A new analysis of adaptation finance and health, presented during Health Day on November 13, 2025 at COP30, shows how underfunded and overwhelmed health systems are already buckling under climate pressures.

At the same time, a new report reveals the staggering human and economic cost of climate-related disasters: from 1995 to 2024, more than 832,000 people were killed by over 9,700 extreme weather events, causing $4.5 trillion (Sh11,250 trillion) in losses (inflation-adjusted).

The Climate Risk Index ranks countries according to the scale of damage caused by storms, floods, heatwaves and other extreme events, many of which disproportionately affect developing countries with fragile health systems.

These facts illustrate why scientists and policymakers insist that loss and damage is no longer simply an environmental or economic issue—it is a public health crisis.

Escalating Health Impacts in a Warming World

During a COP30 press conference, climate health experts warned that climate-driven health risks are accelerating faster than health systems can cope.

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.

Extreme heat, air pollution, flooding, vector-borne diseases, and food insecurity are now some of the biggest drivers of climate-related illness and death. Countries such as Nigeria report a 21 percent increase in disease burden linked directly to climate hazards.

Health as the "Blind Spot" in Global Climate Finance

Despite health being central to human survival, it remains a tiny fraction of climate finance. Recent reports show that only 4 percent of multilateral adaptation funding (2019–2023) went to health.

Out of all multilateral climate finance globally, only 0.5 percent supports health-related adaptation, and just 44 percent of countries have costed their health adaptation needs.

Developing countries’ adaptation needs will reach $310–365 billion (Sh774 to Sh912 trillion) annually by 2035, yet current funding for adaptation sits at around $40 billion (Sh100 trillion), far below international goals.

The result is that vulnerable nations are left exposed, absorbing growing health costs with minimal support.

In Bangladesh, Director General of the Ministry of Environment, Ziaul Haque, explained that the health sector’s adaptation plan identifies clear needs but the available financing covers only a fraction of them.

"The gap between what we require and what we receive is enormous. We need multilateral funding entities to bring forward concrete, holistic proposals that match the scale of the challenge," he said.

New Initiatives Bring Hope, But Are Still Not Enough

This year saw the launch of the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, which committed $300 million (Sh750 million) annually to address climate-related health impacts. Stakeholders welcomed this as a positive development, but they emphasized that it is far from what is needed.

Experts acknowledge that much more is needed to fully address adaptation needs. Nevertheless, it shows the world is beginning to recognize that protecting health must be at the centre of climate adaptation.

The Belém Health Action Plan, unveiled at COP30, provides a roadmap for strengthening global health systems to withstand climate shocks. Meanwhile, the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) now includes health and finance indicators—a crucial step for accountability.

Africa’s Plea: Integrating the Sectors

African nations, among the hardest hit by climate health emergencies, used COP30 to demand a just and transparent financing mechanism.

"Adaptation finance is a lifeline—it saves lives, strengthens communities and protects economies," said Nigeria’s Oden Ewa, Commissioner for Special Duties, Intergovernmental Relations, and Green Economy Lead.

"We call for a just finance plan for Africa and a Sustainable Finance Desk under the UNFCCC to highlight the gaps we face," he added.

COP30 Presidency’s Special Envoy for Africa, Carlos Lopes, added that global finance remains "a colossal deficit," noting that most efforts are carried by national governments alone.

"There are multiple layers of complexity in the relationship between climate and health, from the narratives we use to the policies we negotiate and the finance we mobilize," said Lopes.

"Each layer is contested and unless we align them, we risk losing coherence in our global response. With regards to finance, the reality is that we have a deficit that is quite colossal."

He said that most of the efforts being undertaken are from national authorities, so what is needed from financing coming from abroad is that it needs to be complementary.

President of the Climate Change Scientific Committee, Ministry of Environment of Chile, Dr Sandra Cortes, stressed the importance of integrating health across all climate sectors, saying that siloed approaches will fail in the face of escalating climate threats.

"We must combine the efforts of health, transport, energy and food production sectors," she said.

"This integrated approach will improve public health, reduce emissions and create fairer development opportunities."