Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change

The report warns that climate change could cause 14.5 million excess deaths by 2050, creating massive economic burdens through workforce productivity losses and increased healthcare costs. It specifically projects over $1.5 trillion in worker availability losses across the food, construction, and healthcare sectors between 2025 and 2050. The document advocates for a 'Climate and Health Business Framework' to help companies transition from reactive responses to proactive adaptation, such as developing heat-stable pharmaceuticals, implementing nature-based urban solutions, and creating parametric insurance for vulnerable workers.

• Climate change is projected to cause 14.5 million excess deaths by 2050, with the highest burden falling on developing countries, which already account for 90% of deaths from weather-, climate- and water-related hazards.
• Combined worker availability losses across the food and agriculture, built environment, and health and healthcare sectors are projected to exceed $1.5 trillion between 2025 and 2050.
• The food and agriculture sector faces significant economic risk, with an estimated $740 billion in lost output from select climate-health illnesses between 2025 and 2050; additionally, 24 million more people may face hunger by 2050.
• The construction industry is highly vulnerable to heat and extreme weather, with projected worker availability losses of at least $570 billion between 2025 and 2050.
• The health and healthcare sector faces a dual burden: at least $200 billion in worker availability losses (2025-2050) and an additional $1.1 trillion treatment burden by 2050.
• In the insurance sector, climate change is expected to cause 0.75% excess mortality annually by 2050, which may erode profitability and increase premiums, potentially creating 'insurance deserts' in exposed regions.
• There is a significant funding gap in climate adaptation, with less than 5% of global adaptation funding currently targeting health protection.
• The report identifies specific high-impact interventions, such as the development of heat-stable pharmaceuticals to reduce cold-chain dependency and the use of nature-based solutions in urban planning to reduce flood risk and heat stress.

APA

World Economic Forum (2025). Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building_Economic_Resilience_to_the_Health_Impacts_of_Climate_Change_2025.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change. 2025. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building_Economic_Resilience_to_the_Health_Impacts_of_Climate_Change_2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change |date=September 2025 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building_Economic_Resilience_to_the_Health_Impacts_of_Climate_Change_2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2025building, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Building_Economic_Resilience_to_the_Health_Impacts_of_Climate_Change_2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }