Adaptation Funding Crisis: Global Climate Finance Neglects Health Systems

As the 30th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) approaches, a new report has exposed a wide disconnect between global climate funding and the urgent need to protect human health. The report by Adelphi, a think tank focusing on climate and environment, reveals that despite widespread acknowledgement that climate finance is health finance, only a minuscule fraction - 0.5% of multilateral climate funding, or $173 million since 2004 - has been channeled toward adapting health systems to a changing climate.

This underinvestment comes as climate change is projected to cause up to 15.6 million deaths by 2050 due to factors like extreme heat, the spread of infectious diseases, and infrastructure failure. The funding crisis casts a long shadow over vulnerable nations, including those in South Asia like India. As a country grappling with extreme heatwaves, erratic monsoons, and the resulting strain on public health services, India's existing efforts are insufficient to meet the escalating challenge, with the country needing over $2.4 trillion by 2050 to tackle the risk of climate change.