Climate change threatens to undo decades of global health progress and widen existing health inequities. In the face of this crisis, low- and middle-income countries require at least $11 billion USD per year this decade to adapt to the health impacts of climate change. Yet health-specific climate action remains underfunded, with only around 6% of adaptation funding and 0.5% of multilateral climate funding currently allocated to the health sector to protect health in the face of climate change. A multisectoral approach is fundamental to unlocking finance for maximum impact. Since 2021, emerging economies holding the G20 Presidency have ensured the relevance of the G20 as the most effective space for progressing reforms of the global finance architecture. A community of 50 institutions and governments endorsed a set of Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions, released at COP28 in December 2023. The operationalization of the Guiding Principles through G20 can mobilize financing toward community-driven solutions that mitigate the worst harms of climate change, give power to communities to build resilient health systems, and ensure a more equitable approach to safeguarding human health in the era of climate change. By raising climate change and health equity on the G20 agenda, with a dedicated ministerial declaration, Brazil’s Presidency is a powerful platform to move from rhetoric to action.
