Adapting to climate-related health risks: The economic case for climate services for health

The report argues that investing in climate services for health (CSfH) provides high economic returns, ranging from US$3.60 to $68.40 per dollar invested, due to the modest cost of implementation relative to the high value of lives saved. It defines CSfH through seven key activities—including early warning systems, disease surveillance, and resilient infrastructure—and estimates that a median-sized developing country requires an annual investment of US$12 to $18 million. Despite these returns, the study finds significant barriers to uptake, including a lack of integrated meteorological data in health surveillance systems and poor cross-agency collaboration between meteorological and health institutions.

• Investing in climate services for health (CSfH) yields high economic returns, with benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) estimated between 3.6 and 68.4. Even in a worst-case scenario—characterized by the lowest intervention effectiveness, highest cost, and lowest climate impact—the return is estimated at $3.60 for every dollar spent.
• The annual investment needed for CSfH in a median-sized developing country (defined as having a population of 25 million) is estimated to be between US$12 million and US$18 million. The upper bound of $17.86 million assumes the implementation of all seven identified CSfH activities.
• CSfH consists of seven core activities divided into data production and data application. Production activities include hydrometeorological data generation, integrated early warning systems (EWS), and integrated disease surveillance systems. Application activities include climate-sensitive health planning, emergency preparedness and response training, community behavior change and awareness campaigns, and resilient health facilities and infrastructure.
• There is a significant gap between the availability of climate services and their integration into health systems. While 81% of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Member States provide climate services, only 23% of surveyed health ministries have national health surveillance systems that incorporate meteorological information.
• Among the seven CSfH activities, building resilient health facilities and infrastructure is the most expensive, with an average annual upper-bound cost of US$5.94 million. Conversely, community behavior change and awareness campaigns require the least investment at US$1.39 million per year.
• Implementation of CSfH is hindered by institutional barriers, specifically the lack of collaboration between national meteorological and hydrological agencies (NMHAs) and health agencies, as these entities rarely work together and lack the cross-disciplinary training required for health sector modeling or climate forecasting.
• Climate change is projected to cause significant health burdens in low- and middle-income countries between 2026 and 2050, including 4.1–5.2 billion morbidity cases and 14.5–15.6 million deaths under intermediate and high warming scenarios.

APA

Brandon, C., Kratzer, B., & Aggarwal, A. (2026). Adapting to climate-related health risks: The economic case for climate services for health. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-03/adapting-to-climate-related-health-risks.pdf?VersionId=VRb_aut2.04JzzV56lIvzUeMWhYBO0B3&_gl=1*1rsz9z*_gcl_au*MTA5MDc1MDY1OS4xNzc2ODY4MzMy

Chicago

Brandon, Carter, Bradley Kratzer, and Aarushi Aggarwal. Adapting to climate-related health risks: The economic case for climate services for health. World Resources Institute, 2026. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-03/adapting-to-climate-related-health-risks.pdf?VersionId=VRb_aut2.04JzzV56lIvzUeMWhYBO0B3&_gl=1*1rsz9z*_gcl_au*MTA5MDc1MDY1OS4xNzc2ODY4MzMy.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brandon |first1=Carter |last2=Kratzer |first2=Bradley |last3=Aggarwal |first3=Aarushi |title=Adapting to climate-related health risks: The economic case for climate services for health |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=April 2026 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-03/adapting-to-climate-related-health-risks.pdf?VersionId=VRb_aut2.04JzzV56lIvzUeMWhYBO0B3&_gl=1*1rsz9z*_gcl_au*MTA5MDc1MDY1OS4xNzc2ODY4MzMy |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brandon2026adapting, author = {Brandon, Carter and Kratzer, Bradley and Aggarwal, Aarushi}, title = {{Adapting to climate-related health risks: The economic case for climate services for health}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-03/adapting-to-climate-related-health-risks.pdf?VersionId=VRb_aut2.04JzzV56lIvzUeMWhYBO0B3&_gl=1*1rsz9z*_gcl_au*MTA5MDc1MDY1OS4xNzc2ODY4MzMy}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }