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The 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) held in Belém, Brazil, marked a major turning point in global climate governance by placing human health at the centre of climate adaptation discourse. The launch of the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP) and the announcement of a $300 million commitment by over 35 global philanthropies under the Climate and Health Funders Coalition represent the first coordinated global effort to link climate adaptation finance with public health outcomes. This shift acknowledges that climate change is no longer an environmental issue alone but a multidimensional crisis with profound implications for human health, equity and development.

Climate-linked health risks have intensified sharply, as highlighted in the 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change. Heat-related deaths have increased by 23% since the 1990s, reaching 546,000 annually. Wildfire smoke contributed to 154,000 deaths in 2024, while dengue transmission potential has risen by 49% since the 1950s. According to Lancet findings, 3.3 billion people are at heightened health risk from rising temperatures, pollution, extreme rainfall, water scarcity, vector-borne diseases and extreme events. These impacts disproportionately affect vulnerable groups—children, pregnant women, elderly people, outdoor workers and communities with fragile health systems—worsening global health inequities.

In this context, the Belem Health Action Plan, endorsed by more than 80 countries and organisations, seeks to build climate-resilient, equitable and adaptive health systems. The BHAP outlines five key focus areas:

(1) strengthening surveillance and early-warning systems for heatwaves, floods, extreme weather and infectious diseases;

(2) accelerating research and innovation in climate-sensitive health risks and technologies;

(3) promoting health equity and justice by protecting vulnerable communities;

(4) building capacity in healthcare workforces for climate-related emergencies; and

(5) aligning health, climate, and development policies for coherent action.

A core emphasis of the plan is “shifting funding and power to frontline communities,” ensuring that adaptation resources directly reach the most affected.

The $300 million philanthropic commitment complements the BHAP by supporting integrated climate-health solutions. This inaugural funding tranche will prioritize extreme heat mitigation, expansion of early-warning systems, reduction of air pollution, and improved management of climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria, dengue and cholera. A major component involves integrating climate and health data platforms, enabling real-time forecasting and targeted responses. The initiative also stresses the urgency of action, with the past decade recorded as the hottest in human history, and projections indicating continued extreme temperatures.

However, COP30 also highlighted a persistent adaptation finance gap, especially for health-focused interventions. The UN Adaptation Gap Report (2025) estimates that developing countries will require $310–365 billion annually by 2035 to meet adaptation needs, while current global flows average just $40 billion per year. Health-related adaptation receives an even smaller share. India’s 2023 National Communication to the UNFCCC projects a need for $643 billion by 2030 for adaptation, though the country has significantly scaled up domestic spending to $146 billion (5.6% of GDP) in 2021–22.

The Belem outcome reflects a paradigm shift—viewing climate adaptation not merely as environmental protection but as safeguarding human lives, livelihoods and health systems. By institutionalising a climate-health framework, strengthening collaborations between governments, global agencies and philanthropies, and expanding financing avenues, COP30 has laid the foundation for a more people-centred climate agenda. The challenge now lies in rapidly operationalising BHAP’s strategies at national and local levels, ensuring robust funding, and building resilient health systems capable of withstanding an increasingly volatile climate future.