Human, ecological and climate systems are deeply connected. Our jobs, health, and even cultural values all stem from our natural surroundings. As a result, climate change has emerged as the most significant challenge of our lifetime and is fast becoming the new paradigm for global development.

Governments, multilateral banks, and other major development actors have all stepped up financial commitments for climate change. However, many of these commitments still miss a key ingredient — a distinct focus on the poor and vulnerable.

Climate change has not traditionally been seen as a health and human rights concern — but that may be changing following recent high-profile court cases. On April 9, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women who claimed the government’s inadequate efforts to combat climate change put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. And in India, the Supreme Court on April 6 recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change as a distinct fundamental right in the Constitution.