From the newsletter
The second Africa Climate Summit opened in Addis Ababa on 8 September with petitions to position health as a major climate investment. In a pre-summit briefing organised by Amref Health Africa, speakers stressed that health evidence must be integrated into climate finance negotiations and urged leaders to integrate health into national adaptation plans.
“Health is the human face of climate change. We are spending money where we are not supposed to be spending. Cholera cases are rising, health systems are being weakened and people are dying because of climate change.” said Dr Martin Muchangi, director of population, health and environment at Amref Health Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the direct climate-related damage costs to health, excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture, water and sanitation, will reach $2 billion to $4 billion per year by 2030.
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The WHO regional climate and health lead Dr Jeremiah Mshosho said the summit is “a critical platform to mobilise climate finance and to strengthen the unified voice of Africa in international climate change negotiations.” He noted that health-related events include Amref’s launch of a climate change and health negotiators’ curriculum and discussions on bridging African climate and health frameworks.
Dr Sam Oti of the International Development Research Centre said evidence gaps remain a barrier to attracting finance. “Money talks. Policymakers understand the language of economics. Yet we do not have strong local evidence on the economics of climate and health.” He called for a dedicated research programme linking climate and health costs across Africa.
Collaborations already underway include the WHO and Amref supporting governments to conduct climate and health vulnerability assessments and the Wellcome Trust and Rockefeller Foundation funding work with the World Meteorological Organization to connect weather data with health decision-making. Negotiators stressed the need to capture health targets in national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Malawian youth activist Malango Kaira told delegates climate shocks are already undermining public health. “In Malawi, droughts and floods have worsened cholera, malaria and typhoid. Young people have dropped out of school, some forced into child marriage. Communities are walking longer distances for food, water and healthcare.” She urged that health be treated as both a standalone and cross-cutting issue.
Zambia’s director of green economy and climate change, Ephraim Shitima, said his country placed health in its national adaptation plan in 2007 and adopted a sector-specific health plan in 2017. “The key point is coordination. Health must be at the centre, not on the periphery,” he said, adding that large-scale programmes attract investment more effectively than isolated projects.
Our take
Only seven countries in Africa have developed comprehensive climate and health vulnerability assessments, agreed on during COP 26 and which should help in integrating health into climate finance negotiations.
Climate and health vulnerability assessments are country-level diagnostic assessments of health risks that are associated with climate change and the capacities and gaps to respond to these risks.
The assessments were agreed on at COP 26 under the COP26 Health Programme which focused on two main areas. The first was building climate-resilient health systems. While the second was the development of low-carbon sustainable health systems
In Africa, only Tanzania, Ghana, Malawi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Madagascar and Sierra Leone. have so far submitted comprehensive assessments.