Health at the heart of national adaptation planning: A global review of national adaptation plans and health national adaptation plans

This World Health Organization report reviews how health is integrated into national climate adaptation planning, assessing 59 National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and 27 Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs) submitted globally between 2015 and early 2025. Its core argument is that climate change is fundamentally a health crisis, and that protecting population health requires systematically embedding health considerations into national adaptation strategies.
The review finds that health is widely recognized as vulnerable to climate change, with all NAPs identifying health as a climate-sensitive sector. However, the depth and quality of integration vary considerably. While most NAPs mention health risks, fewer provide clear leadership roles for ministries of health, specify concrete adaptation actions, or allocate adequate resources and monitoring mechanisms.