Enhancing cooperation between the health and climate sectors

Clive Mutunga, Population Action International
Karen Hardee, Futures Group International
Kathleen Mogelgaard, Population Action International

This article explores two instrumental global institutions in relation to health and climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and World Health Organization (WHO), to assess how the health sector is addressed by international actors and institutions in on-going national and global adaptation action and discussions. The article reviews country-level adaptation responses in the form of National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) and how they treat the health sector. Forty four countries’ NAPAs identify health, or the health sector, among the most vulnerable to climate change. Despite this recognition, however, fewer than half of the countries have identified a single adaptation project in the health sector to be funded through the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which facilitates the implementation of projects. The article provides recommendations for greater health sector engagement in adaptation efforts including enhanced representation of the sector in UNFCCC processes and evolving institutions.