Climate Resilience and Powering Healthcare in the Global South

One of the varied ways that climate change poses a risk to public health systems in the Global South is the impact of climate and weather events on the energy infrastructure of healthcare facilities. As a result of the impacts of climate shocks and stress on the energy infrastructure of healthcare facilities, there are permanent or temporary unmet energy needs and therefore a reduced volume and quality of healthcare services. 

There are proven and available resilience solutions that will help ensure healthcare facilities have a secure and sustainable supply of energy in the face of climate risks. This includes resilience measures for grid-supplied electricity, diversified and decentralized clean energy sources, energy efficiency technologies and practices, resilience measures for on-site energy systems, and health facility energy planning and operations. However, the relevance of a specific resilience solution depends on the specific risks facing the energy infrastructure of each country and facility. 

This study uses data from Kenya, India and Barbados to illustrate the scale of the climate impacts facing these three diverse countries and the corresponding strain on energy systems in health facilities. The study ends with three suggestions to partners working on powering healthcare in the Global South. 

Climate Resilience and Powering Healthcare in the Global South was developed by Sustainable Energy for All and Oxford Policy Management, with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). This is the first known study to explore how different climate impacts disrupt the supply of energy to healthcare facilities and affect their demand for energy, and what actions facilities and governments can take to make healthcare facility energy infrastructure more resilient to climate risks.