At this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), global leaders recognized climate change as the greatest health challenge of the 21st century. Leaders have called on the global health community – frontline health workers, ministries of health, intergovernmental and nongovernmental health organizations, health academics, foundations and donors, and wider public and private health sector organizations – to address climate change through: 1,2

A handshake symbolizing climate action, with a globe in the background representing global population health.

Advocacy and Partnership – coordinating with international and regional public health agencies, including those within the United Nations system, to ensure health is appropriately represented in the climate change agenda and disseminating information of the threats that climate change presents while promoting opportunities to cut carbon emissions.

An icon of a microscope with a globe in the background, symbolizing Rabin Martin's dedication to climate action.

Monitoring science and evidence – conducting reviews to define the link between climate change and health.

An icon of a medical building with a cross on it, symbolizing global population health.

Supporting countries to protect human health from climate change – investing in and strengthening the resilience and adaptive capacity of health systems to ensure optimal health care provision in an ever-evolving landscape, and directly tackling the diverse array of health repercussions stemming from the climate change crisis to safeguard human well-being. Health system resilience can be defined as the capacity of health actors, institutions and populations to prepare for and effectively respond to crises, maintain core functions when a crisis hit, and, informed by lessons learned during the crisis, reorganize if conditions require it.3

A line drawing of a tree with clouds in the background, showcasing climate action.

Building capacity to mitigate climate change – reduce health vulnerability to climate change and promoting health while reducing carbon emissions.

Before this global call to action, many private health sector companies took initial steps to address climate change, as the industry witnessed a cascade of climate mitigation strategies and carbon neutrality commitments. These strategies continue to grow as regulations in the European Unionopens a new window and United Statesopens a new window mandate large companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises, to undergo external auditing for ESG (environmental, social and governance) reports as well as implement mandatory sustainability strategies to enhance transparency and benchmarking of companies contributions to climate change and foster strategies to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for negative climate impacts.

However, as a result, many private health sector companies’ strategies are heavily concentrated on climate mitigation activities4 – making the impact of climate change less severe by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and/or enhancing the storage of these gases. Thereby, companies existing strategies neglect activities for climate adaptation, or embed a climate lens across the full scope of the health care business. Climate adaptation, alongside climate mitigation activities, is an essential element of holistic climate action to foster sustainable and equitable impact for our populations via its health investments.

The Opportunity

To maximize health AND climate impact, private health industry partners should complement their ongoing ‘green’ operational investments with a business-integrated approach that considers and addresses climate across business divisions – research and development, supply chain and market access, patient engagement, and policy – as well as therapeutic area strategies and health programming.

Integrating a climate change lens into its consumer and business strategy will ensure priority patient populations have sustained access to the health services they need – medications, care and treatment services – and reduced risk of morbidity and mortality, despite worsening climate and rising climate-related risk factors. Additionally, it’s repeatedly been shown that climate change has a disproportionate impact on populations who are most underserved across and within high-income as well as low- and middle-income countries.5 Therefore, addressing the impact of climate change within and across priority patient populations is an essential component to health equity strategies.

Strategically integrating climate into health strategies will help position private health companies as key partners to stakeholders across sectors and at all levels of the health system (patient to policy), working to prevent further morbidity and mortality, while advancing the climate agenda. Despite the global call and rising awareness of the impact of climate change, taking a comprehensive approach to climate change will set companies apart from their peer pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies and establish the company as a leader in the space.

The climate change and health challenge

There is growing evidence demonstrating the direct and indirect impact of climate change on health outcomes, with strong relevance to many priority therapeutic areas and client’s product portfolios, including:

cardiovascular and other cardiometabolic diseases

HIV/AIDS

infectious diseases

sexual and reproductive health and maternal health

oncology

mental health

Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress, alone.6 Additionally, climate change influences wider social networks, socio-economic and environmental determinants of health, and health systems – including supply chains and global security systems as well as general health system resilience – exacerbating negative population health outcomes and health disparities and inequities.