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At COP30 in Belem, global philanthropies pledged $300 million and launched the Belem Health Action Plan to tackle the growing health impacts of climate change through integrated adaptation measures.

Belem Health Action Plan (BHAP)

The Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP) is a landmark international framework, launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, on November 13, 2025. It is the first global climate adaptation plan developed specifically for the health sector, with 60 action points to help countries build climate-resilient health systems.
 
Purpose and Principles

Developed under the leadership of the Government of Brazil and the World Health Organization (WHO), the BHAP aims to move health from a peripheral topic to a central focus of global climate action. Its core guiding principles are health equity, climate justice, and social participation. It emphasizes protecting the most vulnerable communities and ensuring that policies are inclusive and evidence-based. 

Key Action Areas

The BHAP provides a strategic roadmap structured around three interconnected lines of action to strengthen the health sector's capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, such as extreme weather and infectious disease outbreaks: 

• Surveillance and Monitoring: Advancing integrated data platforms and climate-informed early warning systems for climate-sensitive diseases and health risks.
• Evidence-Based Policies and Capacity Building: Accelerating capacity-building, integrating climate and health into professional education, and promoting equity-driven health policies through multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Innovation and Production: Fostering resilient infrastructure, sustainable supply chains, and technological innovation in the health sector. 

Background: The Health Cost of Climate Change

The health cost of climate change encompasses a wide range of impacts on public health, healthcare systems, and associated economic burdens worldwide. Climate change exacerbates health risks through increased heat-related illnesses, the spread of infectious diseases, worsened air quality, food and water insecurity, and more frequent extreme weather events like floods and droughts. These health challenges increase demand on healthcare systems while simultaneously impairing their ability to respond, leading to higher healthcare costs and strained medical infrastructure.

The 2025 Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change has become a key reference for the initiative. According to the report:

• Heat-related deaths have surged by 23% since the 1990s, now reaching 546,000 deaths annually.
• Over 154,000 deaths were linked to wildfire smoke exposure in 2024 alone.
• The global dengue transmission potential has risen by 49% since the 1950s.

Key points regarding the health cost of climate change:

• Climate change is projected to cause millions of additional deaths annually (estimated at 14.5 million by 2050 globally) due to heat stress, vector-borne diseases, malnutrition, and other health effects.
• The direct economic cost of climate-related health impacts could reach trillions of US dollars by mid-century. For example, low- and middle-income countries might face excess health costs exceeding $21 trillion by 2050, equivalent to 1.3% of their GDP.
• Healthcare systems will also incur additional costs (around $1.1 trillion globally) to cope with climate-induced health burdens such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and disease outbreaks.
• Vulnerable populations, such as low-income communities, children, the elderly, and those with chronic conditions, suffer disproportionately higher health impacts, increasing socioeconomic inequalities.
• Climate change also disrupts healthcare infrastructure and workforce capacity, complicating universal health coverage and emergency response.
• Addressing the health costs of climate change requires urgent adaptation and mitigation actions, including resilient health infrastructures, emission reductions, and integrated policy approaches to reduce risks and economic burdens.

These insights emphasize that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, imposing profound human suffering and economic costs, particularly in vulnerable regions. Governments and health systems need to prioritize climate resilience and proactive health interventions to mitigate these costs and safeguard public health.

Belem Health Action Plan-Launch

• The BHAP was launched by 80 countries and organisations at COP30, building on findings from the Lancet Countdown report. 
• It seeks to integrate climate adaptation with public health strategies, making health systems more resilient, equitable, and climate-ready.
• The plan aims to build climate-resilient health systems that are more equitable and ready to handle climate-related health threats such as heatwaves, floods, vector-borne diseases, and air pollution.

Key aspects of the Belem Health Action Plan include:

• Strengthening health surveillance and early warning systems by integrating climate and health data to detect, prevent, and respond to climate-sensitive diseases and extreme weather events.
• Investing in research and innovation to develop adaptive healthcare technologies and address climate-sensitive diseases like malaria, dengue, and cholera.
• Focusing on health equity and climate justice by targeting support to vulnerable groups including children, women, outdoor workers, low-income communities, Indigenous peoples, and others disproportionately impacted by climate change.
• Enhancing capacity building for healthcare workers to better manage climate-related emergencies.
• Promoting integrated policy frameworks that align climate, health, and development policies to foster coordinated international action.
• Supporting community resilience and climate awareness to reduce health risks and promote sustainable living environments.
• The plan was backed by a $300 million initial pledge from a coalition of more than 35 leading global philanthropic organizations called the Climate and Health Funders Coalition.

The BHAP outlines about 60 specific action items that encompass surveillance, evidence-based policy implementation, health innovation, and integrated multi-sectoral cooperation. Its overall goal is to protect human health by making health systems globally more resilient and responsive to the health challenges posed by climate change while advancing health equity and climate justice principles.?

Philanthropic Commitment

• A coalition of over 35 major philanthropic organizations, including the Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Rockefeller Foundation, and IKEA Foundation, committed an initial $300 million to implement the BHAP.
• This philanthropic commitment, made under the Climate and Health Funders Coalition, targets accelerating solutions, innovations, policies, and research to mitigate extreme heat, air pollution, and climate-sensitive infectious diseases.
• The funds also aim to strengthen health surveillance, integrate critical climate and health data, and build capacity to protect vulnerable and at-risk populations such as children, outdoor workers, and low-income communities.

 
Addressing the Adaptation Finance Gap

A critical issue highlighted by the BHAP at COP30 is the severe adaptation finance gap for health in developing countries. According to the latest UN Adaptation Gap Report, these countries need about $310-365 billion annually by 2035 to adapt effectively to climate change, but only a fraction of this amount is currently mobilized — with health adaptation receiving as little as 4% of adaptation funding between 2019–2023 and just 0.5% of multilateral climate finance. The BHAP seeks to narrow this financing gap by directing funds explicitly towards climate-linked health outcomes including extreme heat mitigation, air pollution reduction, disease control, and integrated climate-health data systems.

Key aspects of the Belem Health Action Plan addressing the adaptation finance gap include:

• Advocating integrated health objectives in national climate policies and adaptation plans.
• Prioritizing investments in resilient health infrastructure and workforce capacity.
• Encouraging sustainable financing mechanisms and cost-effectiveness analyses to optimize resource allocation.
• Empowering local communities to implement context-specific adaptation solutions.
• Promoting research, innovation, and equitable access to climate-health technologies.

Global Impact

• Recognizes climate change as a major health emergency, with vulnerable populations facing disproportionate risks.
• Aims to protect over 3 billion people living in highly climate-vulnerable areas by strengthening health infrastructure.
• Aligns health adaptation indicators with UNFCCC frameworks to ensure accountability and measurable progress.
• Calls for integrating health objectives into national climate plans and funding health adaptations from decarbonization savings.
• Encourages health systems to prepare for climate-related health challenges like heatwaves, infectious diseases, and air pollution.

Collaborative Framework

• Built on principles of health equity and climate justice, emphasizing leadership, governance, and social participation.
• Calls for intersectoral cooperation across ministries, civil society, academia, and international bodies.
• Promotes community empowerment and integration of traditional and indigenous knowledge.
• Encompasses diverse stakeholders through multi-stakeholder committees, regional platforms, and participatory policymaking.
• Supported by an Expert Advisory Group guiding evidence-based interventions and capacity building worldwide.

The Belém Health Action Plan is a landmark global initiative to align climate action with health protection, seeking bold, just, and coordinated responses to climate-driven health challenges.

 

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