Global Initiative Launched to Tackle Climate Challenges
A new global programme called Nexa has been launched to support locally led solutions to the health impacts of climate change. The announcement was made during London Climate Action Week by Grand Challenges Canada and the Science for Africa Foundation.
The initiative will focus on low and middle income countries, where communities are increasingly exposed to rising temperatures, changing disease patterns, and extreme weather events. Nexa aims to fund innovations that protect vulnerable populations and strengthen health systems already under pressure.
Grand Challenges Canada is leading the programme in partnership with the Government of Canada and the Science for Africa Foundation. Other partners include the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Sanofi Foundation, the Fund for Innovation in Development, and members of the Global Grand Challenges Network in Botswana, Brazil, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa. Together, they hope to mobilise more than US$50 million to expand climate and health innovations.
The first funding call opened on June 22 and targets projects in Africa and the Americas. Applications will remain open until July 22, 2026. Future rounds will extend to Asia, with the first investments expected in early 2027. Early stage projects can receive up to US$200,000 over 18 to 24 months, while proven innovations may qualify for between US$250,000 and US$2 million.
Climate change has been described by The Lancet medical journal as the greatest global health threat of the 21st century. An estimated 3.6 billion people worldwide live in regions considered vulnerable. Nexa is designed to respond to growing concerns that intensifying climate pressures are creating new health risks, including heat stress, poor air quality, and the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
Dr. Karlee Silver, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada, said communities are facing rapidly growing threats to their health and livelihoods while global climate commitments are weakening. She explained that Nexa will support locally led innovations to help people protect their health in the face of climate change.
The programme builds on findings from what partners describe as the largest climate and health survey ever conducted. The survey involved 6,400 respondents across 107 low and middle income countries. In 2025, Grand Challenges Canada, the Science for Africa Foundation, the Global Grand Challenges Network, and the Geneva Learning Foundation gathered insights from health workers, scientists, innovators, policymakers, and humanitarian workers. The results are being prepared for publication in an academic journal.
Dr. Tom Kariuki, Chief Executive Officer of the Science for Africa Foundation, said addressing the links between climate change and health requires new forms of partnership and investment. “Those closest to these challenges are often closest to the solutions,” he said, adding that Nexa shows what can be achieved when African priorities, local innovation, and global collaboration are brought together.
Canada’s Secretary of State for International Development, Randeep Sarai, said investments in locally led climate and health innovations could help vulnerable communities respond to the growing impacts of climate change.
