Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have been driving an increase in the intensity and frequency of climate-related events that are at the root of many public health emergencies (1–3). These include both local disasters and global processes involving risks that are difficult to manage and fully understand (4,5), threatening hundreds of millions of people worldwide. These phenomena are often compounded by precarious living conditions, natural and technological disasters, humanitarian crises, and conflicts (2). Today, humanity faces three major, interconnected emergencies: 1) the health crisis, 2) the biodiversity loss crisis, and 3) the climate crisis (6). These crises are deeply linked but evolve at different speeds: while a health crisis may last a few years, the impacts of climate change endure for centuries, and biodiversity loss is irreversible (7,8).
Cabo Verde is among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions. Located in the Sahel region, the archipelago faces escalating challenges such as rising average temperatures, prolonged water scarcity, ocean acidification, and intensified extreme weather events like severe droughts and flash floods (9). These phenomena disproportionately affect vulnerable population groups, worsening pre-existing socioeconomic and health inequalities, particularly among women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and low-income communities.
Gender inequalities become more visible in climate crisis contexts. Women, often responsible for caregiving roles—such as managing the household, caring for children and the elderly, and fetching water, energy, and food—face added burdens during climate crises. Limited access to financial resources, exclusion from community and political decision-making, precarious work conditions, food insecurity, and increased gender-based violence deepen the “feminization” of poverty. Girls, in particular, face heightened risks of malnutrition, school dropout, and preventable diseases. Men, on the other hand, are often exposed to hazardous work environments in sectors like construction, fishing, and agriculture, which directly impact their physical and mental health under climate instability.
In this context, Cabo Verde’s National Health Adaptation Plan to Climate Change (PNASMC 2023–2027) and the Ministry of Health’s roadmap for a low-carbon health system present opportunities to transform the country’s healthcare sector. These instruments outline specific actions such as:
- Alignment with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, emphasizing gender equality in health and sustainability policies.
- Recognition of gender-differentiated vulnerability to climate impacts within national strategies.
- Promotion of inclusive, gender-sensitive actions, especially for vulnerable groups.
- Integration of gender considerations in projects seeking international climate and health funding.
- Development of a national health adaptation program, accounting for vulnerabilities by gender, age, and individual conditions.
- Encouragement of research on community practices, gender, and special needs in the climate-health nexus.
- Inclusion of climate risks in national and municipal health plans, focusing on gender and vulnerable groups.
- Strengthening epidemiological surveillance, professional training, early warning systems, sustainable infrastructure, and community participation in adaptation strategies.
These policies will only be effective if guided by an intersectional approach that acknowledges the multiple forms of inequality shaping exposure, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity to climate impacts. Incorporating gender and equity indicators into climate risk monitoring, fostering female and community leadership in climate and health governance, ensuring adequate financing, and bridging scientific and local knowledge are key steps toward equitable resilience.
The climate crisis is also a justice crisis: reducing emissions and adapting infrastructure is not enough if structural inequalities are ignored, allowing certain groups to bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts. A climate-resilient, equitable, and inclusive health system is essential to protect lives, prevent diseases, and ensure collective well-being on a rapidly changing planet.
References:
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9. Mbaye AA, Signé L. Climate change, development, and conflict-fragility nexus in the Sahel [Internet]. Brookings. 2022 [citado 5 de julho de 2025]. Disponível em: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/climate-change-development-and-conflict-fragility-nexus-in-the-sahel/
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