Africa stands at the frontline of a planetary emergency that it did little to create. Despite contributing less than two percent of cumulative global carbon emissions, the continent bears the heaviest burden of climate disruption, its economies destabilized, ecosystems strained, and populations exposed to mounting health risks. The State of Africa’s Environment 2025 report presents stark evidence that climate change is not merely an environmental concern; it is the most urgent public health and development challenge of our time.

The continent is heating faster than the global average. The year 2024 was the hottest ever recorded in Africa, with mean surface temperatures almost one degree Celsius above the 1991–2020 baseline. North Africa is warming the fastest, but every subregion is experiencing climatic anomalies: prolonged droughts in the Horn, flash floods in the Sahel, cyclones in Southern Africa, and rising sea levels along the coasts. These shifts are eroding the fundamental determinants of health by reducing food production, depleting freshwater sources, and expanding the range of disease-carrying vectors. The report warns that Africa’s adaptation window is rapidly narrowing, with more than 70 percent of countries already experiencing economic losses equivalent to over five percent of annual GDP due to climate-related shocks.

Across the continent, health is emerging as the human face of climate change. The report underscores how rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme weather events are fueling the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and Rift Valley fever into new ecological zones. Waterborne illnesses like cholera and diarrheal infections surge after floods and water contamination events, while heat stress increasingly affects urban populations, especially in informal settlements with little cooling infrastructure. At the same time, recurrent droughts and shifting rainfall patterns are pushing food insecurity and malnutrition to new highs, with more than 250 million people affected each year, a figure projected to rise sharply by 2030. These overlapping crises are placing immense strain on already fragile health systems. Fewer than one in five health facilities in Africa are considered climate-resilient or powered by renewable energy, and less than ten percent of national health budgets integrate climate adaptation measures.

The destabilization of the continent’s water cycle represents a major threat multiplier. Glacial retreat, aquifer depletion, and saltwater intrusion are now common across several regions. The result is a paradox of both scarcity and excess, prolonged droughts alternating with devastating floods, both undermining agricultural productivity and worsening the burden of disease. Agriculture, which sustains the livelihoods of most Africans, is being reshaped by climate variability, leading to livestock mortality, crop failure, pest infestations, and chronic malnutrition. This intersection of climate, food, and health forms a vicious cycle of vulnerability that no sector can address in isolation.

The report also highlights the growing entanglement of climate change with fiscal and social inequities. Meeting Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions is estimated to require 2.8 trillion US dollars between 2020 and 2030, yet only a small fraction of this financing is currently accessible. Adaptation—arguably the most urgent priority for African nations—receives barely a quarter of total climate finance flows. Meanwhile, many countries face a debt burden so severe that up to 40 percent of national revenues are spent servicing loans rather than investing in health and resilience. This imbalance perpetuates a cycle where vulnerability deepens, resilience erodes, and development gains are reversed. The report calls for a new compact on climate and health finance grounded in fairness, debt relief, and predictable long-term support for adaptation.

By 2050, as many as one hundred million Africans could be displaced by the combined effects of sea-level rise, drought, and resource conflict. This growing movement of people will reshape disease patterns, strain social services, and amplify public health inequities. Displacement often forces communities into informal settlements with inadequate water, sanitation, and healthcare, compounding risks of epidemics, malnutrition, and gender-based violence.

The State of Africa’s Environment 2025 draws several critical conclusions. Climate impacts are accelerating faster than policy adaptation, with current global trajectories pointing toward nearly three degrees of warming by the end of the century, an outcome incompatible with Africa’s development ambitions. Health systems remain poorly integrated into national climate policies, with fewer than one-third of adaptation plans including explicit health objectives. Rapid urbanization without adequate climate planning is generating new public health hotspots, while biodiversity loss and land degradation further heighten exposure to zoonotic diseases. The report also emphasizes that youth and women are disproportionately affected, bearing the brunt of food insecurity, unemployment, and health risks.

In response, the report proposes a series of strategic actions that align with the African Union’s Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and the Africa CDC Public Health Order. Health must be fully mainstreamed into national climate policies and budgets, ensuring that adaptation planning accounts for resilient health infrastructure, early warning systems, and workforce training. Climate finance must be scaled up and redirected toward local priorities, with at least half of all global climate funds devoted to adaptation rather than mitigation alone. Investing in climate-resilient primary healthcare, integrating meteorological and epidemiological data systems, and empowering communities through indigenous knowledge are essential pathways to strengthen resilience. Effective coordination across health, environment, agriculture, and water sectors is equally vital to translate policy commitments into real-world protection. Above all, advancing climate justice and equity must remain at the center of the response—recognizing Africa’s minimal emissions and maximal exposure.

Africa’s response to the climate crisis must therefore be guided by science, equity, and solidarity. The evidence presented in the State of Africa’s Environment 2025 shows that the continent is not merely a victim of global warming; it is a testing ground for resilience, innovation, and justice. Protecting Africa’s health systems from climate shocks is both a moral imperative and a strategic investment in global stability. Climate change is now the defining determinant of health in Africa, and the continent’s ability to adapt will depend as much on political will and fair financing as on technology and policy design. Safeguarding health is inseparable from safeguarding development. The path to climate resilience in Africa is ultimately a path toward health equity, and the world’s shared obligation can no longer be deferred.

Climate and Health in Africa: From Silent Crisis to Policy Imperative