Health in Climate Change Diplomacy in Africa

his chapter discusses the African Union’s recognition of the close links between environment, climate, and health and explores the organisation’s efforts at designing strategies to reduce the vulnerability of African populations to climate change. It also discusses the African Unions’ fervent engagement in international climate change negotiations through a platform like the Africa Group of Negotiators on Climate Change. The author recognises that much must be done about strengthening the voice of health professionals as advocates in the UNFCCC process and national platforms on a scale like other sectors such as Agriculture and Food systems. There is a major lag in facilitating access to climate change funding for health from the global climate change financing mechanisms such as GEF, Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and the GCF readiness programme. However, for the health of Africans to be protected against sudden climatic catastrophes and climate change-related infectious diseases, its health system needs a radical transformation and investments to position it to respond to the emerging and anticipated impacts of climate change on human health and productivity. This would require a systemic design and shift by incorporating climate change considerations as key components of public and primary health care at national and continental levels. This can be achieved by tackling the pervasive and extensive health inequalities in many parts of the continent that disproportionately affects the poor and marginalized on the continent.

Explicitly linking health and climate change through nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and sectoral plans, policies, regulations, and investment programmes is central to the development of Health in Climate Change Diplomacy.