August 20, 2024 – The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) in collaboration with the Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Fiocruz today published a new report identifying how climate change is projected to negatively impact human health and what interventions are well-positioned to ease its effects.
With the World Health Organization identifying climate change as “the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century,” and existing solutions remaining immature, the time is now for innovative climate adaptation. However, these opportunities are largely untapped by the global health community.
The report identifies three priorities to address climate-related health challenges and help secure a livable and sustainable future for all:
- Innovation in products and technologies that seek to reduce the burden of climate change on health.
- Enhanced climate-health surveillance, early warning and response systems to support climate-informed emergency preparedness.
- Increased climate resilience of healthcare infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce to build capacity and capabilities that effectively respond to climate-induced shocks.
“On the pathway we’re on, focusing on mitigation alone will not suffice,” said Claudia von Hammerstein, report author and Sustainability & Health Leader at the McKinsey Health Institute. “We need to accelerate adaptation as well.”
"The fundamental building blocks of healthcare is being wiped out by climate change," said Pradeep Kakkattil, report author and CEO of the Health Innovation Exchange. "You see the shift that is happening, which is undermining everything that the health system has built over the last four to five decades. So for us, what we are saying is you need to act; you need to act now. We don’t have a choice."
"When you talk with the government and other partners, one of the problems is that they all know that climate is a problem and we have to do something with it, but we don't know how to do it," said Jae Kyoun Kim, report author and Health Specialist at the Asian Development Bank. "This report has a lot of good innovations, skills, and practical interventions that we can adapt."
"To focus on the vulnerable situations and make it better, that's one of the important aspects," said Guto Galvao, report author and Senior Researcher at Fiocruz. "Homelessness is a situation that is now everywhere in the world. The homeless, and the people who work in the streets, are the ones most exposed to the elements and they are the most vulnerable. We need to be open to talk as everybody and bring all the voices in one place."
Read the full report: mckinsey.com/mhiclimateadaptation. For interviews with the authors, please contact mhi_media@mckinsey.com.