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Preparing Health Systems for Climate Risks Saves Lives — and Pays Off
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Key Takeaways
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Without interventions, disruptions to health systems from climate-related disasters in low- and middle-income countries could drive $21 trillion in economic losses.
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For every $1 invested in data-driven tools and activities that prepare health systems for climate impacts, countries can generate nearly $4 in health benefits; or up to $68 depending on the scenario.
Climate change is one of the greatest health threats we face. By 2050, it could claim nearly 16 million deaths across low- and middle-income countries. Extreme heat, the spread of climate-sensitive diseases like malaria and cholera, and disruptions to hospitals and other healthcare could drive close to $21 trillion in economic losses.
People around the world are already feeling the impact: Recent sustained temperatures in several states in India surged to dangerous levels of heat, reaching 42 degrees C (108 degrees F). In Kenya, deadly floods damaged health facilities and prompted warnings from the Ministry of Health about the risks of diseases like cholera and malaria. Two years ago, Latin America experienced its most severe dengue epidemic since tracking began in 1980 as a result of warming temperatures and standing waters that created ideal mosquito breeding environments.
Protecting lives requires better understanding of how shifting climate patterns can undermine people’s health and their ability to receive care. An essential first step for countries is to invest in “climate services for health,” an umbrella term for data-driven tools and activities that help communities prepare for these health risks before a crisis hits.
New WRI research commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation shows investing in climate services for health can yield extremely high returns by reducing sickness and death linked to increased climate-related cases of malaria, dengue, diarrhea, cholera and heat-related diseases. Even in worst-case, high-cost, low-benefit scenarios, every $1 is estimated to generate almost $4 in health benefits, with other scenarios showing returns as high as $68 per dollar invested. This wide range is due to differing program costs, institutional capacities, implementation and severity of climate trends across countries.
It's not surprising that there’s a strong economic case for investing in climate-health preparedness. It pays for countries to understand what they're up against. Without good upstream climate analytics and planning, health systems are left reacting to emergencies rather than being prepared for them. The estimated returns are significant because saving lives has immense value, while the funding needs are comparatively modest.
Climate Services for Health in Action
Around the world, governments and communities are already preparing for and responding to climate-related health risks.
Pakistan Prepares Communities for Rising Heat
In Karachi, Pakistan, where temperatures now routinely reach 38 degrees C to 40 degrees C (100.4 degrees F to 104 degrees F), the Heat Emergency Awareness and Treatment (HEAT) program trained community health workers to give households and communities life-saving information about heat-related illnesses — from preventative behaviors and dietary modifications during heat waves to recognizing symptoms through screenings and early treatment measures.
The impact was measurable: Delivered at a modest cost of roughly $2,000 over three months, the training program contributed to over $5,800 in out-of-pocket financial savings from reduced hospitalizations. Even without including the economic value of averted sickness and death, every $1 invested in providing climate-health education to Karachi’s healthcare workers and communities yielded $3 in returns.
Keeping Hospitals and Clinics Running in the Caribbean When Disasters Strike
The Pan American Health Organization’s SMART Hospitals initiative identified and retrofitted 54 health facilities in seven climate-vulnerable Caribbean countries to make them safer and more sustainable — for example, by reinforcing roofs, installing solar power systems and providing additional emergency training to staff.
The impact has been profound. Seventeen facilities that achieved the “gold standard” for safety and environmental performance remained operational during hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, providing access to safe, reliable care for 850,000 people and avoiding costly service interruptions. In Jamaica and St. Lucia, every $1 invested generated returns well over $68 in avoided losses and economic benefits.
Early Extreme Heat Warnings Is Saving Lives in Cities
In response to “urban heat island effects,” where cities can be significantly warmer than surrounding areas, several cities including London, Madrid, and Lucknow and Chennai in India have put heat wave warning systems in place that alert and prepare residents before temperatures become dangerous. These systems typically issue heat alerts through websites, apps, social media, helplines and traditional media outlets when extreme temperatures are forecasted. Some systems train workers and healthcare staff to interpret early warning information, recognize heat-related dehydration and mitigate heat stress. Others produce infographics and videos showing how to address heat stress, which are shared through media channels.
The potential benefits are substantial. In London, Madrid and Prague, every $1 invested in urban heat wave warning systems could generate at least $11 in economic benefits, measured as projected decreases in labor productivity, heat-related illnesses and deaths. The estimated returns are even higher for cities in India, where every $1 invested could generate an average of $50 in health benefits.
From Untapped Opportunity to Life-Saving Impact
These real-world examples show what’s possible when health systems account for the changing climate.
Climate services for health bring together meteorological, health and other agencies responsible for safeguarding health to ensure that climate and weather data is used optimally to protect lives and livelihoods. As a result, governments, the private sector and communities better understand how climate change will affect the scale, location and severity of climate-sensitive diseases.
Improved analysis and planning can better model the ecological impacts of climate change on disease-carrying bacteria and disease vectors like mosquitoes; pinpoint where medical supplies and staff training are needed to respond to climate-induced health emergencies; determine when to activate shelters before extreme weather turns deadly; and identify health clinics that are vulnerable to floods and storms.
For the purpose of WRI’s research, climate services for health includes seven types of activities: weather, climate and water data generation, early-warning systems, disease surveillance systems, climate-sensitive health planning, emergency preparedness and response training, community awareness campaigns and making health facilities and infrastructure more resilient to climate change.
Based on an analysis of 46 World Bank finance health projects, WRI’s study found that for low- and middle-income countries with a population of about 25 million people, investing in all seven types of activities costs governments about $18 million per year, while each of the seven activities costs between $1.4 million and $5.9 million per year. Activities supporting planning, capacity-building, and community behavior and awareness campaigns typically require the least investment, while building resilient health facilities and infrastructure require relatively more.
Compared to the 2% to 4% of GDP countries typically spend on health, the investment needed to achieve high returns from climate services for health is a tiny fraction — yet these services remain underutilized and underfunded. While 81% of World Meteorological Organization members provide climate and weather information to the health sector, less than half of health ministries currently integrate climate data into national surveillance systems, according to a forthcoming survey by the World Health Organization. Few national weather, climate and water agencies can fund specialized cross-agency collaboration that health agencies might need. Health ministries also report that collaborative activities that plan ahead are the most difficult to fund. This funding gap may be linked to limited understanding of the scope, costs and benefits of preparing for climate-health risks.
Building Momentum for More Investment
Despite these challenges, political momentum is growing around investing in the tools needed to better manage climate-related health risks. Climate services for health are increasingly embedded in national and global climate and health strategies, thereby improving climate-informed health decision-making and the effectiveness of on-the-ground health services. Among the three priority areas for countries highlighted in the Belém Health Action Plan, launched at the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), two directly involve climate services for health: 1) surveillance and monitoring, and 2) evidence-based policies, strategies and capacity building.
Countries are also increasingly including priorities related to climate services for health in their national planning processes. Over 90% of completed National Adaptation Plans identify the health sector as vulnerable and include at least one health adaptation action. Moreover, climate-informed surveillance is a commonly cited priority intervention in these plans.
Harnessing this political momentum is critical because investing in data-driven tools and activities that help governments and communities adapt is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect lives. This is especially true among vulnerable populations, including the rural and peri-urban poor, women, children and elderly in high-risk zones — where climate-sensitive diseases create the deepest inequities. Countries that do not invest are likely to remain stuck reacting to health crises after they occur and face much higher economic and social harm.
However, implementing climate services for health is complex. They are inter-disciplinary and cross-agency — they require close collaboration between weather and health agencies, and often with others such as local private healthcare providers and universities.
Nevertheless, with millions of lives potentially at stake by 2050, expanding the tools that will help predict and prepare for climate disasters is not just smart policy, it is an urgent health and development priority.