Climate Health Funding Drops Amid Rising Risks

Ahead of the FY2026–27 national budget, policymakers, researchers and public health experts on Saturday called for urgent reforms to Bangladesh’s climate-health financing system, warning that budget allocations for the sector have declined despite growing climate-related health risks.

The call came during a high-level policy dialogue titled “Climate-Responsive Health Financing and Health System Resilience in Bangladesh” held in Dhaka.

Findings presented at the event showed that climate-related allocations within the Health Services Division dropped from 2.74% of its total budget in FY2021–22 to 1.97% in FY2025–26.

Health’s share of the national climate budget also declined during the same period, falling from around 2.5% to 1.5%, despite increasing exposure to climate-induced health threats.

According to the study, less than 1% of financing from the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) has been allocated to health-related projects. Of the 877 projects funded through the trust fund until 2024, only three were implemented by the Health Services Division.

The study highlighted major structural weaknesses in climate-health financing.

Although Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023–2050 identifies health as a key adaptation priority, and the Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP) estimates that around $1.4 billion will be required over the next five years to build climate-resilient health systems, financing remains heavily dependent on short-term projects.

More than 60% of climate-health spending is concentrated in development projects, while disease surveillance, emergency preparedness, workforce capacity, research, and long-term resilience continue to receive limited funding.

The findings pointed to a persistent gap between Bangladesh’s climate-health ambitions and the financing needed to implement them effectively.

The event also presented findings from a study on the impact of climate change on the reproductive health of women and adolescent girls in coastal areas.

The study found serious reproductive and maternal health challenges linked to climate-induced poverty, water scarcity, salinity intrusion, and inadequate sanitation.

Women participating in the study reported complications including irregular menstruation, severe menstrual pain, miscarriage, abnormal bleeding, pre-eclampsia, postpartum infections, haemorrhage and chronic reproductive health conditions.

Experts at the dialogue said these health impacts are no longer isolated public health concerns but represent a growing climate adaptation challenge requiring dedicated financing, stronger institutions and better inter-agency coordination.

Speakers stressed the need for stronger climate-budget tracking, improved climate literacy, expanded research beyond coastal regions and greater access to both domestic and international climate finance.

They also called for integrating health adaptation priorities into the FY2026–27 budget, increasing funding for preparedness and surveillance, and improving systems to assess climate-related health losses as part of broader economic damages.