Global health experts are urging governments at United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, to triple public funding for climate adaptation, warning that failure to act will expose millions of people to escalating health threats.

Speaking under the banner of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, the coalition of medical professionals, researchers and advocates is calling for at least $120 billion a year in public, grant-based adaptation finance by 2035. They argue that current funding levels fall far short of what is needed to protect communities from climate-driven disasters and disease.

The alliance says the money is critical to reinforce health systems, expand access to clean water and sanitation, secure food supplies and prepare for more frequent and intense climate shocks. Without such investment, they warn, hospitals and clinics in vulnerable countries will be overwhelmed by emergencies they are ill-equipped to handle.

Policy specialists with the group stress that low and middle income countries are already on the front line of climate impacts. In regions such as West and Central Africa, prolonged heatwaves, catastrophic floods and shifting rainfall patterns have fuelled malnutrition, cholera outbreaks and surges in malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

Researchers note that climate change is amplifying heat stress, floods, droughts and storms worldwide, placing additional strain on fragile health systems. They caution that the health toll of climate-related loss and damage remains undercounted, with many deaths, injuries and psychological harms never formally recorded or compensated.

The alliance is also pressing wealthy nations to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels, arguing that continued expansion of oil, gas and coal undermines both climate goals and public health. Citing international energy assessments, they emphasise that new fossil fuel exploration is incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Instead, governments are urged to prioritise reliable, affordable clean energy for households, hospitals and clinics, particularly in underserved communities. Access to renewable power, experts say, can cut air pollution, reduce respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and keep critical health services running during climate emergencies.

Health advocates are calling for a robust framework to track the full economic and non-economic costs of climate impacts on health, and for greater transparency over pledges to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. They insist that significantly higher, predictable finance for adaptation, resilient health systems and clean energy is essential to prevent climate change from becoming an even greater global health crisis.