COP30: WHO Warns Climate Change Is Driving a Global Health Emergency as Donors Pledge $300 Million

COP30: WHO Warns Climate Change Is Driving a Global Health Emergency as Donors Pledge $300 Million
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Climate change is already causing a global health crisis, killing more than half a million people each year through extreme heat and threatening hospitals worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday in a major report released at COP30.

The WHO–Brazil special report finds that one in 12 hospitals faces climate-related shutdown risks, with global temperatures now exceeding 1.5°C. Extreme weather has increased hospital damage risk by 41% since 1990, and without rapid decarbonization, the number of vulnerable health facilities could double by mid-century.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the findings show the climate crisis is “a health crisis — here and now.”

The report highlights major gaps in health-system preparedness: only 54% of national plans assess risks to health facilities, fewer than 30% consider income disparities, and less than 1% include people with disabilities.

To accelerate action, 35 global philanthropies — including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome — pledged $300 million to support the new Belém Health Action Plan, funding innovations to address extreme heat, air pollution, climate-sensitive diseases and system resilience.