April Round-Up
Momentum is building across climate and health—but a widening gap between pledges, evidence, and execution continues to define the field.
Global Governance & Policy
Climate and health at a critical juncture, PLOS Climate
A timely editorial argues that the climate-health field is at an inflection point — with growing scientific consensus and political momentum, but persistent gaps in financing, institutional coordination, and policy translation that risk squandering the moment.Flurry of pledges at G7 One Health Summit, Health Policy Watch
G7 health ministers and partners convened around the One Health agenda, producing a series of commitments on zoonotic disease, antimicrobial resistance, and climate-linked health risks — though observers will be watching closely to see which pledges translate into funded action.WHO and France shift One Health vision to action with new high-impact initiatives, WHO
WHO and the French government announced a suite of concrete One Health initiatives, signaling a deliberate shift from agenda-setting to implementation. These include (i) a new global network of institutions on One Health, (ii) stronger science to guide global action, (iii) a new push to eliminate rabies by 2030, and (iv) a unified strategy to tackle avian influenza threats.Climate-resilient and low carbon health systems as a practical One Health solution, WHO One Health Festival
A WHO One Health Festival side event made the case for health system decarbonization and climate resilience not as separate sustainability goals, but as integral components of a functioning One Health approach.
The imperative to counter fossil fuel industry disinformation for public health, The Lancet Planetary Health
A new commentary calls on the public health community to treat fossil fuel industry disinformation as a direct threat to health, drawing parallels with tobacco control and urging coordinated scientific and policy counter-strategies.
What the UK nature security assessment means for global public health, BMJ Responding to the UK’s first nature security assessment, this piece draws out the implications for global health — arguing that biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are upstream determinants of pandemic risk, disease burden, and health system resilience.
Going farther together: 2024–2025 Climate & Health Report, National Academy of Medicine
NAM’s annual climate and health report takes stock of progress and shortfalls across research, policy, and practice — offering a useful benchmark for where the field stands as it heads into another critical year for climate negotiations.A global research and evaluation agenda for centering health and equity in city climate action plans, PLOS Climate
As cities increasingly anchor national climate strategies, this paper sets out what a health- and equity-centered research agenda for urban climate action should look like — highlighting gaps in current monitoring frameworks and the need for community-led evaluation approaches.
Special mention
The first dedicated international conference on fossil fuel transition produced a set of co-host takeaways notable for their ambition — and for the complete absence of any reference to health.
Finance & Loss and Damage
Who should pay for the health impacts of the climate crisis?, Full Story podcast, The Guardian
A podcast episode that opens up the loss and damage debate from a health angle, asking which countries, industries, and institutions bear financial responsibility for the growing burden of climate-driven illness and death — a question that remains largely unresolved in international negotiations.What are the health impacts of sea-level rise, and who should pay? The Guardian
Sea-level rise is typically framed as an infrastructure and displacement challenge, but this piece brings the health dimension into focus — from saltwater intrusion into drinking supplies to the mental health toll of displacement — while pressing on the unresolved question of liability and compensation.Partnership in action: reimagining climate and health funding together, National Academy of Medicine
NAM reflects on efforts to realign climate and health funding streams, arguing that siloed financing — with health and climate budgets rarely interacting — remains one of the most significant structural barriers to effective action, and that new partnership models are needed to bridge the gap.Philanthropy brief: mental health & climate change, Active Philanthropy
A concise brief for philanthropic funders mapping the intersection of mental health and climate change — covering eco-anxiety, climate grief, and the psychological impacts of extreme weather — and making the case for dedicated philanthropic investment in this underserved area.
Extreme Heat
How can cities adapt to protect our health from extreme heat?, Wellcome Trust
Wellcome surveys the evidence on urban heat adaptation — from cool corridors and green infrastructure to early warning systems and cooling centers — and asks what it would take for cities in low- and middle-income countries to deploy these solutions at the speed and scale the heat crisis demands.New South Asia Heat and Health Hub launched to strengthen regional response to extreme heat, Global Heat Health Information Network
A new regional hub dedicated to heat and health in South Asia has been established, aiming to pool research, build capacity, and strengthen policy responses across one of the world’s most heat-exposed and densely populated regions.The Indo-Gangetic Plain’s heat crisis is a governance failure, not just a climate one, Down to Earth
While the climate signal is real, this analysis argues that the heat crisis devastating the Indo-Gangetic Plain is fundamentally a governance failure — with inadequate early warning systems, poor urban planning, and weak occupational health protections amplifying climate risk into preventable harm.Eco-affective one health: a public health framework for climate, emotion, and systemic resilience, Public Health
This paper proposes an eco-affective One Health framework that takes seriously the emotional and psychological dimensions of climate exposure — arguing that systemic resilience requires integrating mental and emotional health alongside physical and ecological wellbeing.
Research, Evidence & Tools
R&D roadmaps for pathogen families to reduce uncertainty about the next pandemic and boost coordinated global R&D preparedness, WHO
On the sidelines of the One Health Summit in Lyon, France, WHO along with ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations launched a roadmap towards having diagnostics, treatment and vaccines ready before the next pandemic strikes.From global political agreement to public health practice: Operationalising the Belém Adaptation Indicators for health, Environmental Research Letters
This paper critically examines the operational challenges of translating politically negotiated indicators into meaningful public health practice across five dimensions — definitional clarity, measurement approaches, data requirements, counterfactual considerations, and implementation feasibility.Life at the water’s edge: a Lancet Commission on sea-level rise, health, and justice, The Lancet
Rising sea level is exacerbating existing health inequities, driving new patterns of disease, accelerating displacement, and eroding the social, cultural, and ecological foundations of health. This new commission seeks to examine these threats by bridging science and community experiences.Readying Health Facilities for Climate-Driven Emergencies, Pathfinder
Pakistan and Bangladesh are routinely inundated by extreme weather events. Pathfinder supported almost 800 health facilities across the two countries to ensure continued access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services during and in the aftermath of climate emergencies.Climate change and health in South Asia: a systematic mapping, The Journal of Climate Change and Health
The first systematic mapping of the climate-health evidence base for South Asia reveals significant geographical and thematic gaps — with heat and infectious disease relatively well-studied, but mental health, nutrition, and health system impacts underrepresented in the literature.Climate change and malaria control in Africa: country experiences and strategic responses, Malaria Journal
Drawing on country-level data across Africa, this study documents how changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures are shifting malaria transmission dynamics — and how national programs are adapting their vector control, surveillance, and treatment strategies in response.
Limited evidence for the impact of climate change on the recent range expansion of Anopheles stephensi in the Horn of Africa, Environmental Research Letters
A rigorous new study pushes back on the dominant narrative that climate change is the primary driver of Anopheles stephensi’s spread in the Horn of Africa, finding that trade, travel, and urbanization offer stronger explanatory power — a finding with significant implications for intervention strategy.
Strengthen malaria control practices, Monitor (Uganda)
A commentary from Uganda calls for renewed investment in malaria control at the national level, situating the country’s ongoing burden within the broader context of climate-driven shifts in transmission and the risks of complacency in prevention and treatment programs.Tree cover loss in the Americas: a critical indicator linking climate mitigation and planetary health, The Lancet Regional Health — Americas
This analysis positions tree cover loss as a sentinel indicator that bridges climate mitigation and planetary health — documenting how deforestation across the Americas is simultaneously accelerating climate change, increasing zoonotic spillover risk, and degrading the environmental determinants of health.