Bridging the Gap: Integrating Mental Health into Global Climate Action

At United for Global Mental Health, we are proud to launch a transformative 3-year policy advocacy project, generously supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Værekraft Foundation.

Climate change is not merely an environmental crisis; it is an urgent public health and human rights crisis. Displacement due to extreme weather events, heatwaves, and ecological destruction are quietly reshaping the psychological well-being of millions across the globe. At the international level, policy is finally shifting toward explicit mental health inclusion and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) integration, as seen in the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), specialized Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs), and landmark commitments like the Belém Health Action Plan launched at COP-30.

However, this international momentum has yet to fully translate into national action. Across the world, mental health remains critically under-represented where binding decisions and investments occur: in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), overarching National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Loss and Damage mechanisms, and frontline climate finance allocations. 

Over the next 2.5 years, we are joining forces with leading partner organizations across six diverse nations – Ethiopia, Pakistan, Brazil, India, the Philippines, and Samoa – to change this. By bridging the gap between climate policies and mental health systems through evidence generation, lived-experience leadership, and targeted advocacy, this project will help governments integrate mental health into climate policy, ensuring climate action is holistic, people-centered, and sustainable. 

Partner Stories: Action Across Six Nations

1. Ethiopia | Mental Health Service Users Association Ethiopia (MHSUA-Ethiopia)

“This isn’t about quick transformation, but about gradually shifting systems toward a more holistic view of resilience – one that includes both environmental and mental well-being.”

Ethiopia stands at a critical intersection of climate vulnerability and global climate leadership, underscored by its role as host for COP32. As one of the world’s most climate-affected countries, communities across Ethiopia are already experiencing severe environmental conditions that threaten both livelihoods and mental health.

While national frameworks like the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Health National Adaptation Plan (HNAP), and updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) acknowledge these risks, mental health remains largely absent from actual planning, financing, and implementation. Through this partnership, MHSUA-Ethiopia is driving a long-overdue system shift: bringing lived-experience leadership and evidence into policy dialogues to ensure climate and mental health are addressed together, rather than in isolation.

2. Pakistan | Global Institute of Human Development (GIHD) 

“By working closely with technical experts, lived-experience groups, and policy stakeholders, we will position Pakistan as a global example for integrating mental health into climate action.”

Pakistan is currently facing escalating climate shocks, from catastrophic floods to extreme heatwaves and mass displacement, that disproportionately affect young people and vulnerable groups. Recognizing these unmet needs, the Government of Pakistan is taking proactive steps toward building a climate-resilient mental health system.

Led by GIHD in collaboration with the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (M/o NHSR&C) and key partners, this 2.5-year initiative will conduct Pakistan’s first comprehensive national landscape analysis on climate change and mental health. Together, partners will co-develop actionable policy roadmaps to embed mental health across health systems, disaster risk management, and climate response frameworks.

3. Brazil | Vertentes

“Our primary goal is to ensure these policies can be effectively implemented according to on-the-ground realities, ultimately benefiting the entire population, especially children, adolescents, and young people.”

With six distinct biomes and a rich diversity of traditional communities (including Indigenous, quilombola, and riverine populations), Brazil’s vast territory experiences psychological distress from climate hazards in deeply nuanced ways. Despite this complexity, national mental health and climate policies currently lack integration.

Vertentes is launching an inclusive, participatory advocacy initiative to influence national adaptation policies and build legal structures that go beyond the Belém Health Action Plan. By focusing on structural gaps and local realities, Vertentes aims to turn policy into meaningful, equitable protection for young people and vulnerable communities across Brazil.

4. India | Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)

“Through this collaboration, we hope to ensure that climate action in India is people-centered, inclusive, and responsive to the psychological and social aspects of the climate crisis.”

As the world’s most populous country with immensely diverse geographies, India faces rising exposure to extreme heat, flooding, and severe droughts. These climate stressors trigger widespread displacement, financial instability, and chronic psychological stress.

Leveraging TISS’s long-standing commitment to social justice, community engagement, and health systems strengthening through their field action Project Rahbar, this project aims to advance understanding and action at the intersection of climate change and mental health in India. Over the next 2.5 years, the initiative will collaborate with government bodies, community groups, and individuals with lived experience to generate robust evidence, build public awareness, and scale community-driven mental health solutions across India’s climate response.

5. Philippines | Ateneo Center for Research and Innovation (ACRI)

“Project KALINGA responds to this moment through a distinctly Filipino ‘bibingka’ approach—meeting national, evidence-based policy reform from the top with community-rooted advocacy from below.”

The Philippines is entering a unique policy window: the Department of Health recently launched its first Strategic Roadmap on Health and Climate Change, and the Philippine Council for Mental Health (PCMH) framework is set for renewal post-2028.

Amidst the country’s devolved health system, ACRI is leading Project KALINGA to capitalize on this momentum. Utilizing the metaphor of bibingka (a traditional rice cake cooked with fire from both top and bottom), the project connects top-down national policy reform with bottom-up, community-rooted advocacy. KALINGA will work horizontally, vertically, and diagonally across sectors to embed mental health into national climate policies and ensure co-benefits are clearly visible to decision-makers.

6. Samoa | SPREP & University of Melbourne

“This is an opportunity not only to strengthen national responses to climate change, but to shape what Pacific-led integration can look like, building on community strengths and generating lessons for the entire region.”

Samoa has long demonstrated deep resilience in responding to environmental change, drawing on Indigenous knowledge, community bonds, and strong connections to land and ocean. Key national frameworks, including the Samoa Climate Change Policy 2020-2030, the Health Sector Plan, and the National Environment Sector Plan, already recognize the importance of resilient communities. However, climate change and mental health remain largely disconnected in policy and practice.

Co-led by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the University of Melbourne, this project works alongside local partners to bring these agendas together. Over the next 2.5 years, the initiative will strengthen evidence, partnerships, and policy pathways to integrate mental health and psychosocial well-being into national climate action. Crucially, all responses will be grounded in Pacific knowledge, cultural priorities, and community-led ways of understanding well-being.

Looking Ahead

Over the next 2.5 years, United for Global Mental Health and our partner network will work across local, national, and international stages. By linking on-the-ground reality with high-level policy reform, we aim to ensure that mental health is no longer an afterthought in climate discussions, but a foundational pillar of global resilience.