Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Implementing and Evaluating Adaptation Strategies that Protect and Promote Human Health | CDC RFA EH21 2101

Opportunity Information: Apply for CDC RFA EH21 2101

Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Implementing and Evaluating Adaptation Strategies that Protect and Promote Human Health (CDC RFA EH21-2101) is a CDC cooperative agreement funding opportunity focused on helping public health agencies and their partners respond to the growing health risks tied to climate change. The core idea is that climate change is not just an environmental issue; it is already worsening well-known, climate-sensitive health threats and creating new ones by increasing the number of people exposed to dangerous weather and climate conditions. The opportunity emphasizes that rising temperatures, more frequent and intense heat waves, and heavier precipitation events that lead to flooding can affect health through multiple pathways, and that these impacts vary widely across the United States because each region faces different climate exposures.

A major theme of the NOFO is inequity in climate-related health impacts. It highlights that climate hazards interact with demographic and social determinants of health, meaning the burden is not shared evenly. Communities of color, older adults, children, and people who have been economically and socially marginalized are specifically noted as examples of groups that may face higher exposure and greater harm. In practice, this framing pushes applicants to look beyond the hazard itself and consider who is most at risk, why they are at risk, and what barriers limit their ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-related events.

Rather than funding one-off activities, the NOFO describes a structured, systematic approach that helps health agencies identify their climate-related challenges and then translate that understanding into practical adaptation actions. The intent is not only to implement adaptation strategies designed to protect human health from climate-related threats, but also to evaluate them. That evaluation piece is central: the CDC is seeking to build evidence about what works, for whom, and under what conditions, so that successful approaches can be scaled up and used more frequently as climate risks intensify. The opportunity also points to resilience as a social and organizational process, including learning, reorganization, and changes in systems, which signals that proposals should think in terms of strengthening ongoing capacity within health departments and communities rather than treating adaptation as a temporary project.

This is a discretionary grant using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically means the CDC expects substantial involvement and partnership during the period of performance, such as technical assistance, collaborative planning, and shared learning. The awarding agency is the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, specifically the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH). Eligible applicants are broad and include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and private institutions of higher education; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status. The program is listed under CFDA 93.070.

In terms of scale, the NOFO lists an award ceiling of $400,000 and anticipates about 15 awards. The original posting date was April 19, 2021, with an original closing date of June 18, 2021, and applications were required to be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Overall, the opportunity is aimed at accelerating climate and health adaptation work by funding agencies and partners to design, implement, and rigorously evaluate interventions that reduce climate-related health harms, strengthen resilience in both health departments and communities, and produce usable evidence to support broader adoption of effective strategies.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control - NCEH in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Implementing and Evaluating Adaptation Strategies that Protect and Promote Human Health" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.070.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 19, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 18, 2021 Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 1159 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for CDC RFA EH21 2101

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