Addis Ababa — Despite climate change being a health risk multiplier, health is often underrepresented in climate negotiation processes.
Experts attribute this to a lack of funding by the African governments and a lack of capacity building among climate negotiators.
At the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 8 to 10 September, health experts are calling for funding to bring health negotiators to the table at the Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, to demand more funding for the health sector.
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Amref Health Africa, a Kenyan-based non-governmental organization providing community and environmental healthcare across Africa, launched a Climate Change and Health Negotiators’ curriculum on 9 September at the summit.
The Climate Change and Health Negotiators’ curriculum, developed for the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), seeks to address this gap by equipping African negotiators with the technical, policy understanding, and advocacy skills required to integrate health considerations into climate policy and finance Agendas.
Desta Lakew, a group director of partnerships and external affairs at Amref Health Africa, said when they started conversations around climate and health, health was not included.
“At COP27, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, there were no health ministers because health was not included. We thought we needed to bring the health issues in Africa,” she said while speaking at a side event at the Rockefeller Foundation Pavilion during the ACS2.
“We have developed a curriculum to bring health to the climate negotiation process. AGN; they speak for us and people in the rural areas who are affected by climate change.”
At COP29 in Dubai in 2023, health was included only in the declaration.
But this was seen as progress by climate experts.
Climate change is devastating health in Africa
Though Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it continues to experience the effects of climate change.
Climate change presents a fundamental threat to human health.
It affects health by increasing heat-related illnesses, worsening respiratory conditions and air quality, expanding the range of infectious diseases and disrupting food and water security.
Extreme weather events like floods in Africa cause injuries and distress while also damaging essential health infrastructure.
In southern Africa, countries such as Botswana, eSwatini, Namibia, and Zimbabwe experienced a dramatic surge in malaria cases in 2025.
From 2023 to 2024, the region was hit by El Niño-induced drought, a natural climate phenomenon in which surface waters of the central and eastern Pacific warm, causing changes in global weather patterns.
In 2025, the region experienced La Niña, which brought above-average rainfall.
The prolonged rains fuelled mosquito breeding.
In other parts of the continent, climate variability is also facilitating the spread of non-communicable and infectious diseases, such as dengue, malaria, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue-it is a health emergency.
Yet, only a tiny fraction of climate funding goes to the health sector.
Many health systems in Africa, which are underfunded and collapsing, were not built for this.
They are being overwhelmed, under-resourced and on the brink.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in a report last year, revealed that Africa warmed faster than the rest of the world.
The WMO report revealed that African countries lost up to 5 percent of their gross domestic product on average, with many of them forced to allocate 9 percent of their budgets to deal with climate extremes.
The WMO estimated that the cost of climate adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa would be between USD 30 and USD 50 billion annually over the next decade.
Adaptation and climate finances could make a difference, giving many people in the path of extreme danger a new lease of life, increasing their access to health infrastructure, smart agriculture, and improved nutrition.
Africa receives less than 5 percent of global climate finance.
Capacitating negotiators on health and climate change issues
The Climate Change and Health Negotiators’ curriculum was developed with support from different partners, including AGNES and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a specialized technical institution of the African Union that works to support public health initiatives across Africa.
Dr Modi Mwatsama, head of capacity and field development for climate and health at Wellcome Trust, a London-based charity focused on health research, said the curriculum would ensure that Africa’s health issues are prioritized in climate negotiation processes.
Dr. Martin Muchangi, a director for population health and environment at Amref Health Africa, said the curriculum targets negotiators, including health and environment ministers, as well as mid-level state and non-state actors.
He said the idea is to train negotiators to understand the technical aspects of climate and health.
Muchangi said the curriculum provides a place where negotiators can always refer.
“We want health to be at the negotiating table. We want to empower AGN by building the capacity of negotiators,” he said while speaking at the same side event.
Muchangi said the curriculum will equip negotiators to use evidence and data to make a strong case at COP30 in Brazil as well as develop actionable plans.
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Dr. Petronella Adhiambo, a capacity building officer at AGNES, said the curriculum is in line with what they want, which is to have health featured in the climate negotiation process.
“We will be able to provide evidence,” she said.
Adhiambo said it is possible to have health as an agenda item at COP30 in Brazil in November.
Dr. Jeremiah Mushosho, a regional team lead for climate at the World Health Organization, said the curriculum is aligned with Global Climate Action and is relevant to the needs of African countries.
“This is quite a big opportunity to prepare negotiators and create a regional pool of climate expert negotiators,” he said.
Mushosho said it is critical to push for resources to be allocated equitably.
Dr. Yewande Alimi, Antimicrobial Resistance and One Health Unit lead at Africa CDC, said her organization will amplify this initiative.
She said the curriculum is timely and Africa will no longer just sit at the negotiating table, but negotiators will be able to demonstrate that health should be prioritized.
Health Experts called for more funding to bring health and environment ministers to COP30 to demand health to be on the Agenda, as well as increase funding to the health sector.
IPS UN Bureau Report