Climate change and health: how to apply for Nexa’s funding

Climate change is harming the health of the communities you serve.

Nexa is a new funding programme that aims to invest money in local solutions to that harm.

This guide helps you decide, quickly, whether to apply, what Nexa wants to fund, and how the process works.

It is written for a community-based leader who is short on time.

The deadline is soon. All applications must be submitted through the Fluxx portal by 22 July 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (6:00 p.m. UTC).

Read this guide, then go straight to the official documents.

Learn more:

• Nexa funding opportunity page
• Full story: Who is behind the Nexa funding call?

What is Nexa?

Nexa is a climate and health initiative co-led by Grand Challenges Canada and the Science for Africa Foundation, working with a group of global partners and funders.

It aims to mobilise more than 50 million U.S. dollars to support locally led solutions in low- and middle-income countries.

Nexa was shaped by the largest climate and health survey ever done, which gathered the voices of 6,400 health and humanitarian workers.

The Teach to Reach network contributed over 60% of the responses to this survey, with over 100 locally-led organizations becoming survey partners reaching 15 million people in the most climate-vulnerable parts of the world.

In other words, the programme was designed around what frontline workers, perhaps including you, already reported.

Its leaders are clear about why this matters.

“Those closest to these challenges are often closest to the solutions. Nexa demonstrates what is possible when African priorities, local innovation, and global collaboration come together around a shared goal.” – Dr Tom Kariuki, CEO, Science for Africa Foundation

“Nexa is about supporting bold, locally led innovation to transform how people stay healthy in the face of climate change.” – Dr Karlee Silver, CEO, Grand Challenges Canada

Why this matters, and how it helps others

Your application is more than a request for money.

It is a chance to put what you know, and what your community has already built, in front of the people who fund global health.

Every strong, community-rooted application also strengthens the case that local solutions deserve investment, which helps every leader who applies after you.

“We found not dozens but hundreds of local solutions, self-funded by the communities themselves. There needs to be a commensurate investment in local action.” – Reda Sadki, The Geneva Learning Foundation

You do not have to build your idea alone.

Through Teach to Reach, you can meet peers who face the same climate and health challenges, and learn from what they have tried.

Step 1: Check if you can apply

Before you spend time on an application, check three things.

If you cannot meet all three, this call is not the right fit for you today.

• You must apply as an organisation. Your organisation must be legally incorporated, or the equivalent, and in good standing. Individuals, sole proprietorships, and informal partnerships cannot apply. United Nations agencies cannot apply.
• Your country must be eligible. For Proof of Concept funding, your organisation must be incorporated in an eligible country in Africa, or in Brazil. For Transition to Scale funding, your organisation can be incorporated in any country, but you must carry out the work in an eligible country in Africa, Latin America, or the Caribbean. The full country list is in Appendix B of the Funding Opportunity.
• You must have a real connection to the community. Nexa ranks this connection on five levels, from “community owned” (your leaders are from and based in the affected community) down to “not meaningfully connected.” To be eligible, your work must be, at a minimum, “community linked.”

Tip: if you can name the community you serve, show that your team is rooted there, and point to the country on the eligible list, you have passed this step.

Step 2: Understand what Nexa wants to fund

Nexa does not fund every good idea.

It funds one specific thing: a solution that helps local health actors turn climate warning signals into fast health action.

The health problem you address must be caused, or made much worse, by climate change.

Nexa focuses on three climate hazards:

• Changing mosquito patterns that spread malaria and dengue;
• Extreme heat;
• Poor air quality.

Your project must fit at least one of these two areas of focus:

1. Climate-informed early warning and monitoring systems. These are solutions that combine weather or climate data with health data, so health workers can see a risk coming and act early.
2. Climate-responsive patient care delivery. These are solutions that improve triage, diagnosis, treatment, or continuity of care during climate stress, especially for people who are most at risk.

The people Nexa most wants to protect are pregnant women, children, older people, and those living with certain long-term illnesses (heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and chronic kidney disease). Your project should aim to improve their health access or outcomes.

Ask yourself one question. “Would my solution still be needed if climate change stopped?” If the honest answer is no, your idea is a strong fit, because climate is at its core.

Step 3: Choose your funding track

There are two tracks.

Choose the one that matches how far along your idea already is.

This is your choice to make, based on your own honest reading of your work.

If you do not yet have evidence that your idea works, choose Proof of Concept.

Applying to Transition to Scale without proof is strongly discouraged, because it will not be considered.

Step 4: Prepare and submit your application

You apply online, through one portal only.

The review panel looks for four things – a bold innovation, real potential for impact, a workable plan, and a team with a genuine connection to the community. Read your draft as if you were the reviewer, and make sure each one is easy to find.

Give yourself time, because you cannot edit after you submit.

1. Read the full Funding Opportunity document first. It holds every rule, including the eligible country list.
2. Create an account and start your application in the Fluxx portal at gcc.fluxx.io. Google Chrome is the recommended browser.
3. Write your Innovation Overview with great care. This short set of questions is scored first, and more than 80 percent of applications are declined at this early screen. Make your idea clear, and show how it fits Nexa’s focus.
4. Save your work as you go. You can return to your draft at any time.
5. Answer every question, then click Submit before the deadline. Incomplete applications are not reviewed.

Featured image: Screen shot of the Nexa launch video, 21 June 2026.