FNHA’s Climate Health Action Program (CHAP) supports First Nations leadership in reducing climate change impacts on health.
Climate change affects physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health in many ways. Through CHAP, communities can strengthen their climate health resilience by working together to improve the environmental, social, cultural and economic factors that affect their health and wellness.
- 2024-25 CHAP Annual Report (via ArcGIS StoryMaps)
- CHAP Fact Sheet
The impact of climate change
Climate change can affect human health in two main ways:
- by changing the severity or frequency of existing health problems
- by creating unprecedented or unanticipated health threats in places where they have not previously occurred
Climate change and First Nations health
Climate change affects health and wellness directly and indirectly.
First Nations’ deep cultural connections to the land, water and air make many First Nations in BC more susceptible to climate impacts on health and wellness.
Over the past decades, BC First Nations communities have observed rapid changes in temperatures, weather patterns and plant and animal behaviours. Higher temperatures, extreme weather conditions, sea level rise and acidification of waterbodies are all connected to climate change and influence health.
- Climate Health 101: Risks and Resilience (fact sheet)
Project components
CHAP funds climate action projects that are community driven and focus on health and wellness outcomes.
Projects can focus on climate health in general or on developing a strategy or action plan to reduce climate change impacts on community health.
Some examples of focus areas are:
- food security and food sovereignty
- access to the land
- mental health
- traditional medicine
- traditional harvesting
- water quality and quantity
- extreme heat response
How to apply
Please note we are not currently reviewing new applications to the program. We will update this page with information on future funding opportunities as they become available. If you would like to hear about other relevant climate funding or resources, please reach out to climate.health@fnha.ca and we would be happy to add you to our communications list.