Philanthropies commit $300mn to climate and health: COP30
A group of leading philanthropic organisations announced at COP30 that it would commit an initial $300mn to tackling climate and health.
The Climate and Health Funders Coalition, a global group of 35 leading philanthropic organisations, has committed an initial $300 million for integrated action to tackle both the causes of climate change and its consequences for health.
In a press statement issued on Thursday from Belem, the host city for COP30 in Brazil, the coalition said that climate change is leading to an “escalating public health crisis” that is putting at risk the health of at least 3.3 billion people at risk, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
The coalition’s inaugural funding effort, which it announced at the UN talks, also supports the implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan — a framework that is designed to build climate-resilient health systems, it added.
Committed funders to the initial $300 million so far include Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Gates Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, the Quadrature Climate Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Philanthropy Asia Alliance, and The Wellcome Trust.
The immediate focus of the first $300 million will be on accelerating solutions, innovations, policies and research on extreme heat, air pollution and climate-sensitive infectious diseases, according to the statement. The funds will also help integrate climate and health data.
Rising temperatures due to the burning of fossil fuels are leading to deadly heatwaves, increased air pollution, worsening nutrition, threats to maternal and newborn health, and the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue, the coalition noted.
Air pollution alone causes 7–8 million premature deaths annually, largely from chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and respiratory infections such as pneumonia, the World Health Organisation warned at COP29 in Baku last year. It also increases the risk of asthma, diabetes, neurological disorders, stillbirth and other pregnancy complications.
Children in particular are vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution, which can hinder lung and brain development and raise the risk of diseases later in life, the WHO said.
“The warnings from scientists on climate change have become reality. And, it is clear that not all people are affected equally,” said John-Arne Røttingen, the CEO of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the Climate and Health Funders Coalition.
“The impacts of rising temperatures hit the most vulnerable people hardest — children, pregnant people, older people, outdoor workers and those communities with the least resources to respond,” he added.
“Climate change is the gravest health threat of our time, and no single organization, community, or country can tackle it alone,” said Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President of Health at The Rockefeller Foundation. “By coming together to align our priorities and combine our resources, this coalition can accelerate solutions faster, reach more communities, and achieve greater impact.”
Protecting the environment “is also about protecting people’s health and livelihoods,” said Antha Williams, who leads the Environment Programme at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Through the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, philanthropy is coming together to move faster to cut pollution, improve lives, and make cities better places to work and live.”
Sonia Medina, Chief Ecosystem Development Officer and Executive Director of Climate at CIFF added: “If you’re committed to improving children’s health, you must commit to tackling climate change and limiting global temperature increase. Nearly half of the world’s children live in countries that are at extremely high risk.”
(Writing by Sophie Davies)