Green Climate Fund and Global Fund Join Forces to Tackle Impact of Climate Crisis on Health
03 December 2023
The two largest multilateral climate and health funds, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) and the Green Climate Fund, announced their intention today at the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai to tackle together the impact of climate change on the health of the most vulnerable communities around the world.
“While the threat of the climate crisis is universal, the speed and severity of the impacts are not,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Those who did the least to cause this emergency are suffering the most, as climate threats push already inequitable health systems past the breaking point. Together with the Green Climate Fund, the Global Fund is committed to addressing the human health impacts of climate change, particularly on malaria and systems for health.”
Estimates indicate that only 0.5% of multilateral climate funding is allocated to projects that explicitly address human health, and just 5% of climate adaptation funding is committed to health projects. In partnership with the COP28 presidency, the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Health Organization, the Global Fund and the Green Climate Fund have developed and published the Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions, establishing, for the first time, a shared vision for financing climate and health solutions, which can adapt health systems to protect people from climate risks to health and build resilient, environmentally sustainable health systems. A range of major organizations and networks have endorsed these principles.
Mafalda Duarte, GCF Executive Director said: “I’m thrilled the Green Climate Fund and Global Fund—the two largest multilateral funds for climate and health, respectively—are forging this first-of-its-kind partnership. Many of today’s health emergencies are a consequence of climate inaction. But through collaboration, the climate and health communities can raise awareness of the health costs of unambitious climate action, and prepare health systems to respond to impacts that are already locked in.”
The partnership will look to increase funding at the intersection of climate and health by aligning funding, supporting countries to assess needs and access financing, and building evidence of effective interventions.