{"id":16715,"date":"2024-09-30T10:03:15","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T08:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dimensions.ai\/?p=16715"},"modified":"2024-09-30T10:59:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T08:59:22","slug":"a-peek-into-the-current-climate-health-funding-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dimensions.ai\/blog\/a-peek-into-the-current-climate-health-funding-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"A peek into the current climate-health funding landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In August 2024, Earth recorded its hottest summer since 1880, according to NASA\u2019s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)<\/a>. This milestone underscores the growing urgency of the global climate crisis and its far-reaching impacts on human health. Climate change spares no one, but it disproportionately affects vulnerable populations (read Dimensions blog A tragedy of inequalities<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As global temperatures rise, so do heat-related illnesses and deaths. Infectious diseases are spreading into new regions, increasing the risk of outbreaks and pandemics. Maternal and child health outcomes are worsening, and extreme weather events like floods, droughts, wildfires, and storms are taking a toll on human well-being. Health systems are struggling under the strain, with the demand for services surging just as their capacity to respond is diminished. Food security, access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and clean air are all deteriorating\u2014further compounding health risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the World Bank<\/a>, at least 21 million additional deaths could occur by 2050 due to five key health risks\u2014extreme heat, stunting, diarrhoea, malaria, and dengue. Given these sobering projections, how is the global research community responding, and is funding sufficient to meet this challenge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out, researchers published a Perspective in NPJ Climate Action<\/em><\/a> that examined funding patterns for climate change and health research. They analyzed more than 9 million publicly funded projects including the Dimensions database (for global funding). Overall the team looked into projects representing over $3 trillion in funding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimensions: A window into global funding trends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Using the Dimensions database, the authors tracked global research funding trends from 1985 to 2022. The database links research grants to publications, clinical trials, and patents, offering a comprehensive view of global projects. Of the $1.94 trillion in total project funding during this period, approximately $20.9 billion\u2014or 1.1%\u2014was allocated to climate change and health research. While this sounds substantial, it\u2019s a small fraction of total funding, reflecting the broader challenge of underfunding in this critical area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1985 and 2022, only 0.70% of all projects in the Dimensions database were directly related to climate change and health\u2014despite the clear and growing links between these two issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The  World Health Organization (WHO) published a fact sheet in 2023<\/a> that showed in addition to the shortage of funding for climate-health projects is the challenge of the rising costs of health-related problems. \u201cThe direct damage costs to health (excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation) is estimated to be between US$ 2\u20134 billion per year by 2030,\u201d it states. And among the measures recommended in the WHO fact sheet is capacity building that includes support to stakeholders for \u201cfocusing on collaboration across sectors, updated guidance, hands-on training, and support  for project preparation and execution as well as for securing climate and health funding.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An encouraging trajectory in recent funding trends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although the Dimensions database highlights that only a small fraction of research projects globally focus on climate change and health, indicating that much more work is needed to secure a sustainable future, recent data reveal a rise in investments for climate change and health research. These could be driven in part by initiatives such as the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative, which emphasizes the growing health impacts of climate change and supports targeted research efforts to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, some databases showed that funding for climate change-related research rose compared to prior years. While this is a step in the right direction, more consistent and substantial investments are needed globally to meet the scale of the climate crisis and its profound impacts on human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As climate change accelerates, so must our efforts to understand and mitigate its effects on health. The recent increase in funding is promising, but the global research community still has a long way to go to ensure that the most vulnerable populations are protected from the devastating impacts of a warming world. Funding agencies and stakeholders can use comprehensive research databases like Dimensions to track and analyze funding patterns, helping them better allocate resources to address the health impacts of climate change. By linking research grants to publications, clinical trials, and patents, databases like Dimensions offer a clear, data-driven view of global and national funding trends. These insights enable agencies to identify gaps in research, assess funding priorities, and direct investments toward the most critical areas. Additionally, leveraging such databases helps improve transparency, ensuring that funds are consistently tracked and aligned with emerging climate-related health risks. This data-driven approach enhances the effectiveness of funding flows and ensures that investments are better targeted toward mitigating the growing health impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on how to leverage funding data from Dimensions, contact the Dimensions team<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blog<\/div>\n

A tragedy of inequalities<\/h3>\n

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Product<\/div>\n

Using Dimensions\u2019 robust grants database<\/h3>\n

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Blog<\/div>\n

Plastics in our oceans: what research is doing to help<\/h3>\n

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In August 2024, Earth recorded its hottest summer since 1880, according to NASA\u2019s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). This milestone underscores the growing urgency of the global climate crisis and its far-reaching impacts on human health. Climate change spares no one, but it disproportionately affects vulnerable populations (read Dimensions blog A tragedy of inequalities). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":16716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"latestblog_background":"","latestblog_bgcolor":"","latestblog_textcolor":"","latestblog_overlay":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,75],"resource_audience_segment":[21,22],"class_list":["post-16715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-change","tag-research-funding","resource_audience_segment-academic-institutions","resource_audience_segment-government-nonprofits"],"acf":{"author_image":false,"author_name":"Misha Kidambi","header_image":{"id":"16716","top":"50","left":"50"},"cta":""},"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.dimensions.ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Climate-Health.png",1920,1080,false]},"post_excerpt_dimensions":"

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