Health Officials Demand Climate Money, German Adviser Questions Data

At the World Health Summit in Berlin, Dr Sidi El Moctar of Mauritania said less than 0.5 percent of climate finance goes to health. He asked how low‑income countries could get more money to protect clinics, cold chains and disease surveillance from climate‑driven heat, floods and outbreaks. Germany’s top climate civil servant, Jochen Flasbarth, questioned the figure, indicating uncertainty about the data.

WHO first published the 0.5 percent figure in 2021, and at COP30 it still was cited. Flasbarth noted that health‑specific climate finance is about $500 million to $700 million a year, roughly 2 percent of adaptation funding. He added that mitigation spending on emissions cuts also benefits health by reducing air pollution deaths.

The next climate conference, COP31, opens in Antalya next month. Health has no formal negotiating track there, so the chance of securing large funding is slim. Turkey’s health ministry plans a Health Day on 9 November and a theme on resilient health systems, but it is a voluntary side track.

Developing countries need $310 billion to $365 billion a year by 2035 for adaptation, including health systems, but only $26 billion reached them in 2023. Most of the funding that does come is a loan rather than a grant, which hurts low‑income governments that already struggle with debt. In 2024, Mauritania spent $373 million on external debt, more than half of the yearly health‑specific climate finance it receives.

The push for climate money for health faces an uphill battle. Germany’s pushback signals that countries on the front line may have to lobby harder. The health world will need more voices in the climate talks to secure the urgently needed money to adapt to the climate crisis.