Integrating climate and health to champion local leadership and shape global policies – Foundation S
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What happens when a global health foundation puts climate at the centre of its mission?
This case study, from the publication “How to Integrate Climate into Your Philanthropic Programmes: What Foundations Need to Know, and Where to Begin” follows Foundation S as it treats climate change as a major public health threat, backing locally led adaptation in low- and middle-income countries while using evidence, partnerships and a Climate x Health Catalytic Fund to shift global policy and unlock more finance for climate-resilient health systems.
About the organisation
Foundation S was launched in 2022 by the global healthcare company Sanofi with the aim of creating a healthier future for underserved communities. The foundation takes a bold “think-and-do” approach to address some of the biggest global health crises. Given the scale of these challenges, the foundation aims to catalyse collective action and work alongside local and global stakeholders to identify innovative solutions and, crucially, to translate those solutions into lasting, real-world impact. It structures its work around three missions:
- Increasing access to medicine
- Strengthening health capabilities
- Empowering healthcare workers
Motivation and approach
Climate change represents one of the biggest current and future threats to under-resourced communities in low- and middle-income countries, which Foundation S seeks to serve through its work. In many of these countries, the impacts of global warming threaten the provision, accessibility and availability of essential health services, especially for disadvantaged populations. According to the WHO, between 2030 and 2050 climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress. It is also expected to impose a financial burden of $1.1 trillion on health systems by mid-century. In 2023, Foundation S pledged €40 million by 2030 to locally led adaptation and health resilience programmes for communities impacted by climate change.
While climate action is a distinct area of focus for the foundation, it is also deeply interconnected with its broader mission and other programmatic priorities. For example, most health and humanitarian crises in low- and middle-income countries are caused by extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change.
The health impacts from climate change vary significantly across geographies and are experienced differently depending on the unique characteristics of different local communities. Local actors have the best knowledge and a direct appreciation of what is changing, and the specific climate-related health risks that impact them. Far from passively enduring the effects of climate change, local communities demonstrate a remarkable capacity for innovation and resilience, thereby developing and implementing solutions adapted to their specific realities at family, community and territorial levels. By building on communities’ own resources, local solutions can be sustained over time and scaled up, thus amplifying their impact on climate change resilience. As such, Foundation S champions locally led adaptation across its climate and health programme to create and scale-up sustainable and resilient impact.
Bridging action and insight: A think-and-do approach to climate and health
As a “think-and-do tank,” Foundation S connects community insights with global expertise to both inform policy and implement real-world solutions – ensuring that climate and health are addressed in an integrated, evidence-based way. Aware that philanthropy’s greatest strength is its strategic ability to act by breaking silos and catalysing innovation, Foundation S pursues climate change resilience objectives while supporting vulnerable populations in a more holistic and comprehensive way, empowering local communities and their resilience.
The foundation works in partnership with local actors to deliver solutions that are context-specific and cross-cutting, ranging from building the capacity of local community health workers to respond to climate-driven health challenges, to supporting early warning systems and community preparedness to predict outbreaks and surges of climate-sensitive diseases, to enabling smart agriculture food security. In 2024, the foundation included women-centred climate adaptation and resilience among its priorities in recognition of the fact that marginalised groups – including women and girls – often face disproportionate climate-related health risks, and more limited access to resources, economic opportunities and decision-making processes, and yet are often leading climate adaptations and health resilience efforts within their communities.
Through its think tank, Collective MindS Climate x Health Council, Foundation S convenes experts from industry, academia, civil society, philanthropy and government. Given the urgency of climate action, the foundation has a particular focus on unlocking more climate and health catalytic finance for local adaptation. Incorporating local knowledge, evidence and science is key to ensuring the sustainability of the solutions implemented in countries in need and at various levels.
Influencing systems through research, collaborations and advocacy
Through the combination of hands-on support for locally led initiatives and cutting-edge research on global health challenges, the foundation is uniquely positioned to influence global policymakers and advocate for placing health at the centre of climate action. This think-and-do approach, particularly the evidence gathered by the foundation, strengthens the case for significantly increasing funding at the climate-health nexus in ways that prioritise locally led adaptation. Because the impacts of climate change cut across sectors, policymakers must move beyond traditional siloed interventions. Encouragingly, in recent years, momentum is growing: Recent global milestones, such as Health Day at COP28 and COP29, reflect increasing policy recognition of the links between climate and health.
With less than 5% of climate-related corporate philanthropy funding allocated to health, Foundation S aims to leverage the agile and innovative nature of philanthropic capital. Given the current context of resource scarcity, the most effective approach is to prioritise greater investment in financing mechanisms and co-funding partnerships with global stakeholders and the private sector that are catalytic and tailored to local contexts, capacities and needs. This is why Foundation S committed to launching the Climate x Health Catalytic Fund. Co-financed with the Gates Foundation and implemented by the Global Fund, this $50 million initiative provides adapted support to countries and vulnerable communities to tackle the health impacts of climate change while building climate-resilient health systems.
Success factors
Locally led adaptation as a guiding principle
The foundation centres the experience and knowledge of local communities across its work – from its funding portfolio to its policy advocacy work. The foundation’s climate and health portfolio spans 26 countries and it relies on larger, local NGOs to act as regional accelerators to provide technical assistance and to document the most significant outcomes and successes. By enabling local communities to drive change, Foundation S ensures the long-term sustainability of its work.
Combining implementation support, research development and policy advocacy
The foundation’s hands-on support for context-specific responses that work for under-resourced communities is key to allowing it to put forwards proven solutions which inform its research and guide its policy engagement. This knowledge demonstrates the transformative shifts that policy change and investment can create and supports policymakers to prioritise climate and health.
Partnering up for greater impact
Given the systemic and cross-sectoral shifts which its vision requires, Foundation S joins forces on critical challenges with like-minded philanthropic, public and private actors including other health and climate funders; Agence Française de Development; Grand Challenges Network; the One Sustainable Health Forum; and the Galien Forum. Joined-up, public-private-philanthropic partnership is key for creating lasting impact and continuing to break down silos.