Reports
Published: 18 September 2025

Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change is increasingly felt through its consequences on human health, with rising economic costs to industry, governments and communities. Indeed, the combined global impact of climate health effects across the food and agriculture, built environment, and health and healthcare sectors could amount to at least $1.5 trillion in lost productivity by 2050. To protect their workforces, operations and growth, businesses need to make human health a pillar of resilience.

Climate change is increasingly felt through its consequences on human health, with rising economic costs to industry, governments and communities. Indeed, the combined global impact of climate health effects across the food and agriculture, built environment, and health and healthcare sectors could amount to at least $1.5 trillion in lost productivity by 2050. To protect their workforces, operations and growth, businesses need to make human health a pillar of resilience.

The insight report Building Economic Resilience to the Health Impacts of Climate Change identifies vulnerabilities and outlines scalable, cost-effective interventions for four highly exposed economic sectors: food and agriculture, built environment, health and healthcare, and insurance. It offers companies a first look at solutions to protect health while supporting a more resilient global economy.

Investing early in health resilience can achieve more than limiting those losses. It offers businesses the opportunity to protect workers' and communities’ health, stabilize supply chains and gain a competitive edge in a market marked by climate disruptions.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum reports may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

About us

Engage with us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2025 World Economic Forum