Education
African leaders call for climate-health plans to get financing – EnviroNews
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African health leaders have called for a shift from climate-health assessments and plans to fully financed programmes that can protect communities and keep essential health services operating during climate-related shocks.
The call was made during “Building Africa’s Climate Buffer: Financing Climate-Resilient Primary Health Care,” an investment roundtable convened by Amref Health Africa and Seed Global Health on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting brought together representatives from African governments, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), development finance institutions, climate funds and philanthropic organisations.
Participants said climate change should be treated as a health crisis rather than a separate environmental issue, noting that extreme heat, drought, flooding and changing disease patterns are increasing pressure on health systems.
They also raised concern that health continues to receive a small share of global climate-adaptation finance.
Dr. Vanessa Kerry of Seed Global Health said the gap between the scale of the climate-health threat and resources available to health systems was widening.
She said the burden would fall disproportionately on countries that have contributed least to the climate crisis.
Africa Pushes Climate Justice
Dr. Githinji Gitahi of Amref Health Africa said Africa’s response must be grounded in climate justice.
He said most African countries have very low per-capita emissions and should not be expected to carry the same mitigation burden as the world’s largest emitters.
Gitahi outlined three priorities: faster emissions reductions by high-emitting countries, enabling African economies to expand through renewable energy, and immediate investment in adaptation to protect communities from climate impacts they did not create.
He also said efforts to mobilise resources from the Green Climate Fund for Tanzania and Zambia were ongoing and being led jointly with the countries.
Gitahi highlighted the establishment of a Climate Research and Policy Lab at Amref International University, which he said would strengthen evidence, policies and investment cases needed to move climate-resilient health programmes from design to implementation.
Countries Identify Investment Priorities
Country representatives said governments were already identifying and implementing climate-health solutions but needed financing at greater scale and over longer periods.
Sierra Leone’s Minister Demby highlighted investment in reliable energy and emergency referral services.
About 380 health facilities have been solarised, with a national target of 2,000 facilities by 2030.
Eighteen major hospitals, including Connaught Hospital, are supported by 1.2 megawatts of solar power.
Sierra Leone has also deployed 140 ambulances and plans to double the fleet while adding water and tricycle ambulances.
The next priority is to strengthen the referral network through improved communications, staffing, GPS-enabled coordination and national oversight.
In Zambia, Dr. Simpungwe outlined a three-stage process linking the country’s Climate and Health Roadmap to a Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment and ultimately a National Health Adaptation Plan.
Immediate priorities include climate-informed disease surveillance and early-warning systems, climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services, and a health workforce equipped to anticipate and manage climate-related threats.
Kenya’s Principal Secretary Muriuki identified three related priorities: solar-powered primary health facilities with reliable water and sanitation; integrated early-warning and epidemiological data systems; and investment in frontline health workers and community health promoters.
She said short-term and fragmented project funding remained a major barrier.
Kenya needs predictable and flexible financing that can reach all 47 county governments and support locally determined priorities, she said.
Dr. Masebo of Ethiopia highlighted the link between climate change and emerging disease risks, including the country’s first reported Marburg outbreak and increased exposure to El Niño.
Ethiopia’s plan to plant 80 billion trees by COP32 was presented as part of the country’s wider response.
With COP32 expected to take place in Addis Ababa in 2027, Masebo said the summit should be used to establish an African climate-health agenda rather than simply host another global conference.
Africa CDC Calls For Coordinated Financing
From a continental perspective, Dr. Tajuddin of Africa CDC presented a costed climate and health framework valued at approximately US$480 million.
Developed with African Union member states, the framework promotes community-centred primary health care that is climate-resilient, prepared for epidemics and pandemics, and increasingly supported by domestic resources.
Tajuddin said efforts to mobilise Green Climate Fund resources for an initial group of member states were ongoing and being led jointly with the countries concerned.
He also called for stronger coordination among development partners so that investments support national and regional priorities rather than duplicate existing activities.
Recent outbreaks, he said, have demonstrated that epidemics, climate pressures and weaknesses in health systems cannot be addressed separately.
Countries Need Bankable Climate-Health Projects
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, said the main challenge was no longer identifying climate-health risks.
Many countries have completed vulnerability assessments and developed Health National Adaptation Plans, he said.
The missing link is the ability to convert those priorities into costed, bankable and implementable programmes.
Amoah proposed a grant-based project-preparation facility to help health ministries develop credible investment pipelines.
He also called for increased public and concessional resources from multilateral climate funds and development banks.
Blended and catalytic finance could then be used to reduce risk and mobilise additional capital, he said, while financing should remain aligned with national priorities and clear accountability arrangements.
Participants also identified a capacity gap between health ministries and financial institutions.
They said health ministries often lack the capacity and access needed to present their priorities in the language and formats used by finance ministries and investors.
Technical support should therefore help health leaders develop strong business cases and secure a place in financing decisions.
Development Partners Outline Financing Options
Representatives from the Rockefeller Foundation pointed to first-loss capital, guarantees, concessional finance and blended-finance structures as potential instruments for climate-health resilience.
They said effective resilience financing should link early-warning systems to agreed action plans and pre-arranged funds, enabling countries to respond before climate-related health threats develop into full emergencies.
The World Bank reported growing integration of climate considerations across its health portfolio and highlighted co-financing, debt-for-health swaps and blended finance as mechanisms that could support implementation.
The Gates Foundation called for longer philanthropic funding horizons and greater investment in health workers, community health systems, artificial intelligence and disease surveillance, particularly in fragile and humanitarian settings.
Participants also stressed the need to incorporate gender into climate-health investments.
The Valerian Fund warned that gender-neutral planning could obscure the different risks faced by women and girls, while Grand Challenges Canada called for philanthropic organisations to align their funding behind shared, country-led outcomes.
Focus Turns To COP32
The roundtable closed with a focus on translating commitments into practical action.
Amref Health Africa and Seed Global Health will prepare a summary of the discussion and its commitments.
Participants also proposed a climate and health project-preparation and financing platform to help countries turn National Health Adaptation Plans into investment-ready programmes over the next 12 months.
Ethiopia proposed a continuity session during the Africa CDC meeting in November to consolidate the climate-health agenda ahead of COP32.
Participants further called on development finance institutions, multilateral development banks and philanthropic organisations to align their investments with costed national plans and report progress at future global meetings.
The meeting’s central message was that African countries have identified climate-health risks and established priorities, but need financing mechanisms capable of moving resources into primary health-care facilities, supporting health workers and protecting communities facing the health impacts of a changing climate.
By Winston Mwale, AfricaBrief
