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35 philanthropies vow $300mn to help tackle impact of climate crisis
Over 35 philanthropies have pledged $300 million to combat climate change's health impacts, focusing on extreme heat, air pollution, and diseases.
Over 35 leading philanthropies have committed an initial $300 million for tackling both the causes of climate change and its impact on health through extreme heat, air pollution and spread of diseases like malaria and dengue.
The Coalition titled “The Climate and Health Funders Coalition” which made the announcement at COP30 in Belem, brings together institutional and individual funders operating at international, national and regional levels including Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Gates Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Philanthropy Asia Alliance (by Temasek Trust), and Wellcome.
Climate change puts at least 3.3 billion people at risk, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, according to the coalition.
“The Climate and Health Funders Coalition has committed an initial $300 million for integrated action to tackle both the causes of climate change and its consequences for health - accelerating solutions where they are needed most. The Coalition’s inaugural funding effort, announced at COP30 in Brazil, also supports the implementation of the Belém Health Action Plan—a landmark framework placing human health at the centre of global climate action,” it said.
The immediate focus for the first $300 million will be to accelerate solutions, innovations, policies and research on extreme heat, air pollution and climate-sensitive infectious diseases. The funds will also strengthen the integration of critical climate and health data to support resilient health systems that protect people’s lives and livelihoods.
“The Coalition recognizes the need to act with urgency. The past ten years have been the warmest on record and temperatures are expected to remain at or near record levels in the next five years. Climate and health experts have repeatedly warned that warming of more than 1.5°C risks unleashing more severe climate impacts and extreme weather with major consequences for human health,” the coalition said on Thursday.
The 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change released in October said the rate of heat-related deaths has surged 23% since the 1990s, to 546,000 a year and the global average transmission potential of dengue has risen by up to 49% since the 1950s.
The Belém Health Action Plan focuses on building strong health surveillance and monitoring systems to effectively respond to climate-related threats such as disease outbreaks and extreme heat; implementing proven solutions, evidence-based policies and capacity building and investing in research, technology and infrastructure to support the most at-risk populations. “Climate change is the gravest health threat of our time, and no single organisation, community, or country can tackle it alone,” said Naveen Rao, Senior Vice President of Health at The Rockefeller Foundation. Observers said major philanthropies coming together for the cause of climate change also shows that US’s Trump administration’s withdrawal from the talks has not made a huge dent.
