Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions

The report projects that climate change will cause an additional 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic costs by 2050. It argues that a strategic R&D investment of $65 billion over the next five to eight years could save 6.5 million lives and reduce economic losses by $5.8 trillion. The analysis focuses on eight priority medical conditions—malaria, dengue, PTSD, GAD, stunting, hypertension, heat-related diseases, and asthma—identifying 36 high-impact unmet medical needs. The document calls for public-private partnerships, harmonized global regulatory frameworks, and the integration of climate-health data to overcome investment roadblocks and build resilient health systems, particularly in vulnerable regions like Africa and Asia.

• Climate change is projected to cause an additional 14.5 million deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic costs globally between today and 2050.
• A strategic R&D investment of $65 billion over the next five to eight years could potentially save 6.5 million lives, reduce global economic losses by $5.8 trillion, and prevent one billion disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by 2050.
• Floods are forecast to be the highest acute risk of climate-induced mortality, accounting for 8.5 million additional deaths by 2050, while heatwaves are expected to cause the highest economic toll at $7.1 trillion due to productivity losses.
• Climate-driven health impacts are disproportionately distributed, with the projected mortality rate in Africa being more than 20 times greater than in North and Central America and almost 14 times worse than in Europe.
• Innovative interventions in the life sciences sector could avert up to 49% of anticipated DALYs lost to climate-exacerbated diseases, with specific potential reductions including 44% for malaria, 63% for dengue, and 50% for heat-related diseases.
• Stunting in children, exacerbated by climate-driven food insecurity, could be mitigated by over 45%, potentially preventing 1.3 million deaths and saving over $753 billion in economic losses.
• Mental health conditions, specifically PTSD and GAD, are expected to cause over $1.8 trillion in costs and over 460 million DALYs by 2050, though roughly 60% of these impacts are preventable.
• The life sciences industry faces significant roadblocks to investment, including uncertain market demand, unclear return on investment (ROI), and fragmented global regulatory policies.
• The report suggests using the US Orphan Drug Act as a model for how targeted regulatory and financial incentives can transform high-risk, underfunded therapeutic areas into high-investment sectors.
• Approximately one in 12 hospitals worldwide (16,245 facilities) may be forced to close by the end of the century due to extreme weather events.

APA

World Economic Forum (2025). Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Healthcare_in_a_Changing_Climate_2025.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions. 2025. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Healthcare_in_a_Changing_Climate_2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions |date=January 2025 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Healthcare_in_a_Changing_Climate_2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2025healthcare, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Healthcare_in_a_Changing_Climate_2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }