Climate resilience and human health

Findings in a report by Lancet underline the urgency of redirecting finance away from health-harming fossil fuels towards strengthening local health systems, adapting to climate change, and pursuing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through interventions that simultaneously deliver health co-benefits.

- Meena Janardhan

However, as an Adelphi study points out, while 87% of National Adaptation Plans include health priorities, multilateral climate funds have only covered less than 0.18 of the $2.54 billion aggregated need for health adaptation identified in these plans.

The funding crisis casts a long shadow over vulnerable nations, including those in South Asia like India. As a country grappling with extreme heatwaves, erratic monsoons, and the resulting strain on public health services - from vector-borne diseases to heatstroke - India's existing efforts, such as the National Adaptation Fund and state-level action plans, are insufficient to meet the escalating challenge.