A New Frontier of CMB’s Work in the Region 

Across Southeast Asia and China, climate change is reshaping daily life in ways that undermine health and deepen inequities. Rising temperatures, extreme weather, shiing disease patterns, and threats to food and water systems fall hardest on coastal communities, smallholder farmers, migrants, Indigenous communities, urban poor families, and older adults. For them, climate impacts are not abstract concerns but realities that magnify vulnerabilities and restrict access to the conditions needed for good health. 

Fellows Site Visit During the Climate Justice Workshop

Following a series of conversations throughout 2024, EI Fellows came together to form a climate justice thematic group as a shared platform for collaboration, peer support, and joint action. In response, CMB has launched a regional theme on Climate Justice for Health Equity. Centered on community-led adaptation grounded in local priorities and cultural contexts, this work focuses on generating context specific evidence, strengthening the leadership of communities and diverse allies, and amplifying civil society and marginalized voices oen excluded from climate and health decision making. At the same time, CMB seeks to address policy implementation gaps, channel climate finance toward equity focused initiatives, and ensure perspectives from the region shape global climate and health agendas. 

Picture of All the Participants of the Climate Justice Workshop

In December 2024, CMB piloted a Climate Justice Fund to create space for EI Fellows to exchange, collaborate, and drive equity driven climate solutions. In its first year, the fund supported EI Fellows-led projects in the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia border region, each advancing community approaches to climate related health challenges. These early investments are generating learning that will inform future programming while elevating EI Fellows who work directly with local communities.  

To strengthen the evidence base and support more equitable policy on climate adaptation, the climate justice thematic working team has developed practical tools and knowledge products, from regional and policy ecosystem scans to policy briefs, factsheets, and a growing library of community stories, videos, and multimedia. 

Discussion Among Fellows and People From the Community During Site Visit

Together, these efforts mark a shift from initial brainstorming to a sustained community wide movement that leverages the strengths of EI Fellows and CMB’s regional networks to advance climate justice as an essential pathway to health equity.  

“Communities already have their own knowledge, strong enough to face the challenges. The question is not whether they are vulnerable, but how larger institutions can recognise and work with them as equals. 

This story is part of the Equity Initiative’s 10-year anniversary, celebrating a decade of leadership, collaboration, and impact across Southeast Asia and China.