12 March 2010: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have launched the first global project on public health adaptation to climate change. The project involves a series of pilot projects that will seek to increase the adaptive capacity of national health system institutions, including field practitioners, to respond to health risks associated with climate variability and change.

The projects will be executed by Ministries of Health and other relevant national partners in Barbados, Bhutan, China, Fiji, Kenya, Jordan and Uzbekistan. They will all aim to: enhance systems of early warning and early action; build capacity of national actors; pilot specific health risk reduction interventions; and document and share lessons learned in addressing the health risks associated with climate change in their area.
The project will receive US$4.5 million for activities from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) as well as leverage significant co-financing and in-kind support from 2010–2014. [WHO Press Release] [Public Health Case Studies] [Climate Change Policy & Practice Story on the Funding of the Project]