4.3.3Active indicatorHealth Adaptation Finance Flows and Disclosed Needs
4.1The economic impact of climate change and its mitigation
4.2The transition to net zero carbon, health-supporting economies
4.3Financial transitions for a healthy future
Indicator 4.3.3 · Economics
Health Adaptation Finance Flows and Disclosed Needs
Adequate climate finance is essential for countries to adapt to climate change and protect health, yet financing for health adaptation remains insufficient and poorly tracked. This indicator tracks international finance for health adaptation and compares it with the financial needs identified by countries in their National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions.
Headline finding
Of the 79 countries reporting adaptation plans, 48 (61%) identified health adaptation needs totalling US$3.3 billion annually. In 2024, declared international finance for health adaptation in these countries amounted to just US$1.1 billion — one-third of their stated annual need.
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Figure 1
Self-Disclosed Needs for Health-Related Adaptation Funding
Declared health adaptation finance needs from costed National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by country and Human Development Index (HDI) group. Values are reported in billion 2023 US dollars and can be viewed for NDC Cycles 2 and 3 combined, Cycle 2 only, or Cycle 3 only.
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Figure 2
Green Climate Fund financing commitments for adaptation and health
Green Climate Fund financing commitments by recipient, comparing the 2024 and 2025 fund snapshots. Measures include total financing, the proportion of funding directed towards adaptation, the proportion of adaptation funding directed towards health, total adaptation financing, and total adaptation financing for health. Monetary values are reported in million 2024 US dollars. Where a country appears more than once, labels such as “Pakistan (entry 2)” indicate a separate financing record or project for the same country. Some projects cover multiple recipient countries; where the financing cannot be separated by individual country, those countries are listed together as a single entry.
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Figure 3
World Bank climate finance commitments
World Bank Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) financing commitments to recipient countries, as reported in the WB2024 dataset. The values represent World Bank financing committed to HNP projects in each recipient country, rather than financial commitments made by the countries themselves. Measures include total HNP financing committed, financing supporting climate adaptation, financing supporting climate mitigation, and the proportion of total HNP financing that qualifies as climate finance. Monetary values are reported in million US dollars.
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About this indicator
Description
This indicator compares international finance for health adaptation with countries’ disclosed needs. Supply estimates combine bilateral climate finance commitments for health adaptation projects with financing from UN and other multilateral organizations, the World Bank, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and private philanthropic organizations. These flows are compared with costed health adaptation needs reported by countries in official submissions to the UNFCCC. Monetary values are expressed in 2024 USD.
Authors
Dr Papa Orgen, Professor Nadia Ameli, Dr Sabah Abdulla, Professor Anil Markandya, Dr Cat Pinho-Gomes
Data downloads
Caveats
Coverage bias in NAPs and NDCs: Only 48 countries provided costed health adaptation needs in their official submissions (79 provided costed conditional adaptation needs), limiting global representativeness. Others weave health into other priorities and not as a standalone figure. In total, we analysed documents from 133 LDC and developing countries, out of 193 UN member states (plus 2 non-state members).
Inconsistent timeframes: Needs were not always linked to clear time periods. Where possible, we selected values referencing the 2025–2030 window and otherwise took the proportional estimate.
Under- / over-reporting of needs: Many countries did not report costed needs for the health sector, often due to cited limited technical capacity, lack of data or impending costing analysis.
Document timing: Needs values are based on the most recent available NAPs and NDCs as of 12th February 2026. Documents published earlier and without a timeline including 2025-2030 are naturally excluded.
Data sources
- UNFCCC: Adaptation registry and NDCs database for National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions
- OECD CFRD Database
- Green Climate Fund (GCF)
- The World Bank