Climate Action for Resilient Health and Sustainable Development

Building climate-resilient systems through evidence, partnerships, innovation, and equitable action across Africa.

Understanding the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene represents a defining era where human activity has become the dominant force shaping the Earth’s climate, ecosystems, and natural systems. Rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and increasingly severe climate events are reshaping societies worldwide.

Africa is experiencing some of the most severe consequences despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. Nigeria continues to face growing climate risks that threaten health systems, food security, livelihoods, economic growth, and sustainable development.

HSDF recognizes climate change as a systems challenge requiring integrated, evidence-driven, and locally owned solutions.

HSDF Climate Action Desk Charter

Given this urgent context, HSDF is committed to concrete, strategic climate action.

We commit to advancing climate‑resilient, low‑carbon, and equity‑centered health and development systems by reducing our organizational carbon footprint, embedding climate considerations into our programmes and operations, strengthening internal capacity, and providing thought leadership on Africa’s climate action agenda.

We are pursuing this commitment through the following high‑impact actions:

Establishment of the HSDF Climate Action Desk as the central coordinating mechanism for HSDF’s climate work, aligned with national and global climate goals;
Conduct of a baseline and routine carbon footprint assessment, alongside “quick wins” such as greener travel, office greening, and waste reduction;
Continuous in‑house capacity and expertise building on carbon accounting and climate‑smart health, agriculture, and enterprise programming;
Systematic integration of climate adaptation and mitigation into programme design, implementation, and learning; and
Publications (including policy briefs), knowledge‑dissemination events, and convening actors around the climate–health–development nexus.

The window for meaningful action is rapidly closing. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC[AO1.1]) reports underscore that without urgent mitigation and adaptation, climate impacts will intensify—worsening health crises, displacement, and socio-economic fragility. Simultaneously, donor expectations for climate-sensitive programming are rising, and climate finance is expanding. With Nigeria and West Africa among the world’s most climate-affected yet least-adapted regions, this is a critical moment for HSDF to act to safeguard health, drive resilience, and champion climate justice for all.

HSDF’s climate-action efforts are rooted in our broader ethos: strong systems, evidence-based action, partnership, and sustainable impact. The work of the HSDF Climate Action Desk is guided by the following principles:

Climate justice and equity: prioritizing populations and places that face the greatest climate‑related health and development risks;
Evidence‑informed action: grounding decisions in data, research, and practical learning;
Sustainability: promoting environmentally responsible operations and programming;
Country ownership: aligning climate action with national and sub‑national priorities;
Multi‑sector collaboration: working across health, environment, finance, agriculture, energy, and related sectors;
Accountability: tracking progress transparently and using results to improve performance.

Why HSDF is Stepping into Climate Action

Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is a profound threat to human development, public health, economic stability, and the dignity of vulnerable populations. As an organization rooted in equitable health systems and development, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF) recognizes that climate change multiplies the risks we already seek to mitigate. It worsens poverty, food insecurity, disease burdens, and conflict, placing the most marginalized groups we serve, including women, children, and the elderly, at even greater risk.

Across Africa, climate extremes are reversing development gains. From droughts in the Horn of Africa to floods in West Africa, climate change is compounding fragilities in governance, health systems, food security, and livelihoods. Despite contributing the least to global emissions, Africa bears some of the worst impacts, especially in under-resourced communities.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy, is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. It is ranked 160 out of 181 on the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN), underscoring its low readiness and high exposure to climate shocks. Extreme heat, erratic rainfall, floods, desertification, and poor air quality are already driving increased cases of diseases and malnutrition. These impacts threaten the building blocks of health and economic development. At this critical nexus, HSDF is poised to contribute to integrated, climate-informed action to protect vulnerable populations and safeguard development progress.