PATH, 2023

Implementing Partners: PATH, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, SELCO Foundation, Scope Impact, The Rockefeller Foundation, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, Carbon Disclosure Project, Social Alpha, Environmental Defense Fund

Published In: COP28 Prospectus of Climate-Health Solutions, 2023

Funding a Global Innovations Accelerator Platform for piloting and scaling high-impact climate and health technologies.

Context

The impacts of climate change on human health are being felt today across the globe through several extreme weather events. However, governments and communities struggle to mitigate and adapt to these ongoing health impacts of climate change due to a perceived lack of proven solutions. There is a need to break siloes, rapidly innovate, and drive scalable implementation of climate and health innovations grounded in local community needs for large scale sustainable impact. Innovators need support to tailor their innovations to fit community needs, while governments need capacity building support for sustainable technology transfer.

Approach

PATH is building a global innovations accelerator platform that strengthens the climate and health innovations ecosystem. The platform will accelerate the development and transfer of technological innovations for climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resilience in the context of public health to improve outcomes. The accelerator will be among the first climate and health innovation platforms of its kind.

While similar climate technology innovation mechanisms exist, they typically do not cater to health.

The accelerator will provide support across two broad areas: technical assistance for development and transfer of innovations, and financing to pilot and scale high-impact innovations. Specifically, the accelerator will perform the following key activities:

  • Scoping climate and health needs in health systems and communities through continuous on-ground assessments to devise problem statements
  • Sourcing and shortlisting high impact climate and health technologies and innovations as per problem statements, through active and passive sourcing by multi-dimensional climate and health expert panels
  • Deploying fit for purpose and context specific innovations for on-ground impact in the local context through intensive pilots, expert guidance, and handholding support
  • Accelerating integration and scale up of validated climate and health innovations in government systems, local community, and industry
  • Providing technical assistance for technology transfer by building sustainable capacity of innovators, governments, and industry
  • Mobilizing financial support for validation of pilots, refining, scale up, and technology transfer through innovative financing mechanisms
  • Strengthening cross-geographical and cross-sectoral learning and collaboration through regional knowledge sharing, learning networks and partnerships
  • Building a private sector marketplace platform that houses all climate and health innovations and matches innovators with buyers.

 

PATH aims to support two to three high impact innovations annually with seed grants through innovative financing mechanisms. This will include but is not limited to recoverable seed grants, innovative financing instruments, and leveraged financing from country funds and budgets. Currently, the accelerator is supported by a $100,000 seed fund contributed by PATH. Financing models can include impact bonds, public-private partnerships, and innovative financing instruments. Upon launch of the accelerator, PATH will open the financing platform for replenishment by donors, multilaterals, and philanthropic organizations.

 

The accelerator will onboard innovative technologies that meet the following four criteria:

  • Addresses both Sustainable Development Goals 3 (Health) and 13 (Climate action) at a minimum
  • Readily deployable
  • Affordable, accessible and relevant (suitable for low and middle income countries)
  • Financially sustainable and either already or projected to be commercially viable.

For every deployment through the accelerator, the impact will be rigorously assessed through a comprehensive framework that integrates data that is quantitative (e.g., emission reduction targets, health indicator improvement metrics, cost savings, economic assessments) and qualitative (e.g., community engagement initiatives, feedback from stakeholders.

One major challenge for such an accelerator is the complexity and fast-evolving nature of climate and health interactions which limits the relevance of identified innovations. Hence PATH has structured an additional evolving criterion for sourcing innovations as shown in the image.

Impact & Next steps

As of October 2023, the accelerator has built a pipeline of 127 innovations and shortlisted 18 high impact and readily deployable climate and health solutions. Some high impact solutions in pipeline are illustrated here.

The impact solutions will generate improvements in climate and health outcomes such as reductions in morbidity and mortality, reduced emissions and a more resilient health system. Furthermore, innovations will provide economic benefits by reducing healthcare costs, disaster management costs and greenhouse gas mitigation costs. Through the engagement of vulnerable communities, these benefits will be realized with equity in mind. PATH has also launched a compendium to disseminate accelerator innovations within low and middle income countries.