Photos from the press event HERE
Recording of the Press Conference can be found here.
Belem, 13 November 2025 – Today, on Health Day at COP30, Regions4, the Global Climate & Health Alliance and CarbonCopy hosted a press conference, focused on “Positioning Health at the Centre of Adaptation Finance.”
High level speakers at this event warned that, as the global climate crisis accelerates, its devastating impacts on health are intensifying, making climate change one of the most important threats to human health. They argued that concerns about the health impacts of continued global warming and the benefits of immediate actions should significantly shape decisions about climate policy and climate action.
The press conference saw the participation of Dr Marina Romanello of the Lancet Countdown, along with ministerial representatives, including Dr Sandra Cortes of Chile, Md Ziaul Haque of Bangladesh, Oden Ewa of Nigeria and Dr Vishwas Chitale of India and Carlos Lopes, the COP30 Presidency’s Special Envoy for Africa. The press conference was moderated by Jeni Miller of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
“Each year, more than half a million lives are lost due to heat, and over 150,000 deaths are linked to wildfire smoke exposure,” said Dr Marina Romanello, Lancet Countdown Executive Director, Institute for Global Health, University College London. “Health systems, already stretched and underfunded, are struggling to cope with these growing pressures, and most are still unprepared for what is coming.”
“Adaptation in the health sector is essential, but current funding is nowhere near sufficient,” says Dr Marina Romanello. “Only 44% of countries have costed their health adaptation needs, and existing finance falls short by billions. Without urgent investment, we will not be able to protect populations from escalating climate impacts.”
The discussion at the press conference highlighted that the health finance gap is a critical component of the overall adaptation finance gap, and the world’s inaction is further compounding the situation and the cost. The latest Adaptation Gap Report estimated that developing countries’ needs will be $310-365 billion a year by 2035. The international community is struggling to mobilise the c.$40 billion Glasgow Pact Goal for adaptation finance.
“With regards to finance, the reality is that we have a deficit that is quite colossal,” Carlos Lopes, Special Envoy for Africa, COP30 Presidency. “We have to admit that most of the efforts that are being done are from the national authorities, so what we need to expect from financing coming from abroad is that it needs to be complementary.”
This year’s Adaptation Gap Report highlighted that just 4% of multilateral climate adaptation funding between 2019-2023 was allocated to health. A recent report by adelphi stressed that out of all multilateral climate finance, only 0.5% goes to health, health being critically threatened by climate change.
“Our Health National Adaptation Plan was designed to identify the real problems, build capacity and use our limited resources more effectively,” said Md Ziaul Haque, Additional Director General, Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh. “But the truth is, our adaptation financing for health is far below what is needed. 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.”
The latest Lancet Countdown Report, published last month, stressed the dire situation in which the world finds itself, with the number of climate change-related deaths reaching the millions, and millions more affected by extreme heat, extreme rainfall and flooding, ever more vicious storms and creeping desertification. In this context, world leaders are meeting in Belem, Brazil, in what is being termed both the “Adaptation COP” and the “Implementation COP”.
“According to India’s 2023 national communication to the UNFCCC, the country will require $643 billion between now and 2030 to adapt to climate change under a business-as-usual scenario,” said Dr Vishwas Chitale, Fellow, Council for Energy, Environment & Water, India and Research Fellow, United Nations. “India has already made significant progress, spending $146 billion in 2021-2022 alone, the equivalent of 5.6% of GDP, a remarkable rise from 3.7% spent in 2015-2016.”
Speakers highlighted the recently announced Climate and Health Funders Coalition which has committed an initial $300 million for integrated action to tackle both the causes of climate change and its consequences for health – accelerating solutions where they are needed most.
“The launch of the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, with an annual commitment of $300 million in philanthropic funding, is an important and encouraging signal. We know that much more than that is needed to fully address adaptation needs.” said Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance. “Nevertheless, it shows that the world is beginning to recognise that protecting health must be at the centre of climate adaptation.”
The speakers highlighted the importance of adaptation finance being delivered to strengthen health systems, and said this finance must be just, equitable, transparent, accessible, to enable health resilience, especially in vulnerable countries. The Belem Health Action Plan, a roadmap that aims to strengthen health systems globally, so that they can better cope with the impacts of climate change, particularly in vulnerable countries and communities, will help reinforce health and health systems across the world, and the Global Goal on Adaptation, with its diverse health and finance indicators will be a crucial foundation to ensure meaningful progress.
“To confront the climate crisis effectively, we cannot work in silos,” said Dr Sandra Cortes, President of the Climate Change Scientific Committee, Ministry of Environment, Chile. “It is vital to combine the efforts of different ministries, not only health but also transport, energy and food production, so that we generate co-benefits across sectors. A more integrated approach will allow us to improve public health, reduce emissions and create fairer, more sustainable development opportunities for everyone.”
As negotiators in Belem aim to reach meaningful progress on adaptation and implementation, this press conference highlighted the urgency of immediate policy action on adaptation finance for health, globally and among the most vulnerable communities.
Media Contacts
For further media queries please contact
Gunjan Jain, Assistant Director, Climate Trends
Email: [email protected]
Links to reports referenced in the press release:
- Lancet Countdown Report 2025: https://lancetcountdown.org/2025-report/
- Adaptation Gap Report 2025: https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2025
- Belem Health Action Plan: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/climate-change/en—belem-action-plan.pdf
- “The Nexus of Adaptation and Health Finance: Mapping Multilateral Climate Funds’ Investments and National Needs”, adelphi, 2025: https://adelphi.de/en/projects/the-nexus-of-adaptation-and-health-finance
Speaker’s list:
- Dr Marina Romanello, Lancet Countdown Executive Director, Institute for Global Health, University College London
- PhD Sandra Cortes, President of Climate Change Scientific Committee, Ministry of Environment, Chile
- Ziaul Haque, Additional Director General, Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh
- Carlos Lopes, Special Envoy for Africa, COP 30 Presidency
- Oden Ewa, Commissioner for Special Duties, Intergovernmental Relations, and Green Economy Lead, Nigeria
- Dr Vishwas Chitale, Fellow, Council for Energy, Environment & Water, India and Research Fellow, United Nations University
- Moderator: Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance
Photos from the press event HERE
Recording of the Press Conference can be found here.
Additional Quotes from speakers
“The launch of the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, with an annual commitment of $300 million in philanthropic funding, is an important and encouraging signal,” said Jeni Miller, Executive Director, Global Climate and Health Alliance. “It shows that the world is beginning to recognise that protecting health must be at the centre of climate adaptation.”
“Air pollution remains the single biggest environmental health challenge in Chile,” said Dr Sandra Cortes, President of the Climate Change Scientific Committee, Ministry of Environment, Chile. “Recent data suggests that more than 14,000 people lost their lives due to its effects, yet we are still working to fully understand how these deaths relate to broader climate hazards. Strengthening our national research systems and improving the resilience of our health services are critical steps if we want to protect our communities from the growing health impacts of climate change.”
“Our Health National Adaptation Plan was designed to identify the real problems, build capacity and use our limited resources more effectively,” said Md Ziaul Haque, Additional Director General, Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh. “But the truth is, our adaptation financing for health is far below what is needed. The gap between what we require and what we receive is enormous.”
“Health has been on the COP agenda since 2013, but progress has been slow,” said Md Ziaul Haque, Additional Director General, Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh. “We need multilateral funding entities to bring forward concrete, holistic proposals that match the scale of the challenge.”
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 mobilise,” said Carlos Lopes, Special Envoy for Africa, COP30 Presidency. “Each layer is contested and unless we align them, we risk losing coherence in our global response.”
“With regards to finance, that reality is that we have a deficit that is quite colossal,” Carlos Lopes, Special Envoy for Africa, COP30 Presidency. “We have to admit that most of the efforts that are being done are from the national authorities, so what we need to expect from financing coming from abroad is that it needs to be complementary.”
“Despite the awareness that health and climate change are inextricably linked, Africa still receives only a small fraction of adaptation finance for health,” said Oden Ewa, Commissioner for Special Duties, Intergovernmental Relations and Green Economy Lead, Nigeria. “In Nigeria, we are facing an additional 21% disease burden due to climate change, from exposure to both extreme heat to heavy rainfall. Yet the adaptation finance we received in 2021-22 only met 6% of our needs.”
“Adaptation finance is a lifeline: it saves lives, it strengthens communities and it protects economies,” said Oden Ewa, Commissioner for Special Duties, Intergovernmental Relations and Green Economy Lead, Nigeria. “In light of this, I call for the world to develop a just finance plan for Africa, and to create a Sustainable Finance Desk, especially at the UNFCCC, to further highlight the finance gaps we are trying to mitigate against.”
