Building climate-resilient health systems & improving health outcomes for all
In March 2024, health and climate leaders gathered in Miami at the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference for a roundtable discussion, hosted by AstraZeneca and the National Academy of Medicine, that explored concrete actions to address the climate-health nexus and build climate-resilient health systems that improve health outcomes for all.
The climate crisis is the largest public health crisis of our time. From air pollution to flooding, extreme heat to drought, climate change is increasing levels of ill health and jeopardizing access to basic healthcare. To address the interconnected issues of climate and health, stakeholders from the health sector and beyond must work together to strengthen health systems so that they are more resilient, equitable and sustainable, and transform how healthcare is delivered.
Sharing diverse perspectives from government, NGOs, academia and the private sector, 16 climate and health leaders gathered for the roundtable and contributed insights from their work to improve health in the face of climate change. Together, these experts explored what enabling factors – like policy change, digital technologies and partnerships – can help make health systems more resilient and responsive to the changing environment.
Five core, actionable insights surfaced to accelerate progress and guide future partnerships, programs and policies on the climate-health nexus:
Core Insight |
Examples of Action & Impact |
To respond to climate-induced crises and changing disease burdens, the health sector must be proactive: At a health systems level, proactive action is needed to enhance both climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. This includes accelerating efforts to decarbonize the health sector, and investing more and more strategically in health systems so that resources are available to respond to the health needs of today and tomorrow.
Additionally, proactivity – or acting early – can be applied to patient care. Prioritizing prevention, early detection and treatment of chronic diseases is essential to meet the increasing and changing demand for healthcare services driven by the climate crisis. This requires a fundamental shift from ‘sick care’ to health care, gearing health systems to act earlier. By acting earlier to keep people well, we can improve patient outcomes and reduce the environmental impact of care. |
Health Sector Mitigation
Health System Adaptation Early Action |
Training healthcare practitioners and scientists to deliver sustainable healthcare can reduce the sector’s environmental footprint and improve health outcomes: How healthcare is designed and delivered has a significant impact on the environmental footprint of care and patient outcomes. Identifying strategies to improve health outcomes while simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint is critical. A greater focus on secondary prevention, early detection and diagnosis, and optimal treatment — including leveraging the latest technological and digital innovations — can help ensure the right treatment is given at the right time, which will benefit people, health systems and the planet.
In the lab, integrating a culture of sustainability is equally important. Embedding sustainability into lab procedures and protocols can aid sector decarbonization efforts from R&D through to manufacturing.
To implement this in practice, we need to both educate the next generation of healthcare practitioners and scientists, and work with current practitioners through continuing education courses so that more sustainable decisions can begin today. |
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To generate more momentum for sustainable healthcare, we need to do more to explain the benefits for people, society, economies and the planet: As climate and health advocates continue to make the case for policy and practice change, we must think about how the benefits of these changes are explained to decision makers and policymakers. Considering the information and incentives of each audience is crucial to further build momentum and political will for action.
In addition to communicating effectively, we also must consider where gaps in research exist and what evidence needs to be generated to demonstrate efficacy and impact of proposed solutions. |
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Policy cannot be made and enacted in siloes – we need to marry digital, health and sustainability policy: Climate change presents a fundamental and wide-ranging threat to human health, affecting individual’s physical environment as well as social and economic conditions. Solutions, including policy, need to mirror the interconnected issues they are working to address. Fragmentation or misaligned policies can ultimately be barriers to scaling solutions to climate-health challenges.
Including a climate lens in health care decision-making and health policy and a health lens to climate decision-making and climate policy, and recognizing the enabling role digital solutions play across both, can ultimately lead to a more resilient and equitable healthcare. |
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The health sector needs to have a voice in how other sectors are addressing the climate crisis: Health is our foundation. It is the bedrock of prosperous, stable, well-functioning societies. And with the climate crisis’ broad-ranging impact on health, the health sector needs to have a voice in how other sectors are responding and can play a valuable role in impactful, cross-sector partnerships. |
The cycle of the climate’s impact on health and the health sector’s impact on climate change is well-documented. Through collaboration, we can stop and even reverse this cycle so that people, society and the planet all benefit.
