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Adapting to Climate-Related Health Risks: The Economic Case for Climate Services for Health

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Published Date May 06, 2026
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Published Date May 06, 2026
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Climate change is one of the defining public health crises of our time. Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and deadly. Floods are spreading waterborne disease. Warmer temperatures are expanding the reach of mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and dengue into communities that have never faced them before. Without stronger action, low- and middle-income countries could see nearly 16 million deaths from climate-related health impacts by 2050 and nearly $21 trillion in economic losses.

The consequences extend far beyond the health system. When people are sick, farmers can’t tend their crops, workers can’t earn wages, and families are forced to spend scarce savings on medical care instead of building better lives.

Protecting people requires more than responding to crises after they strike. It requires knowing what’s coming — and being ready. That means investing in what researchers call “climate services for health”: the data systems, early warning tools, disease surveillance networks, and resilient infrastructure that help communities anticipate and prepare for climate-driven health threats before they become emergencies.

New research by the World Resources Institute, commissioned by The Rockefeller Foundation, makes the economic case for exactly that kind of investment. Drawing on a review of 46 World Bank-financed projects across 40 low- and middle-income countries and a cost-benefit analysis of projected health impacts from malaria, dengue, diarrhea, cholera, and heat-related illness, the study finds that climate services for health deliver exceptional returns — even under the most conservative assumptions.

Key Findings:

  •  
    $0returnedreturned

    for every $1 invested

    even under worst-case assumptions, climate services for health deliver exceptional economic returns. Under more favorable conditions the returns are extraordinary

  •  
    $0

    per person per year

    to deliver a full package of climate health services for a low- and middle-income country of 25 million people, the full package of tools and services costs an estimated $18 million annually — a fraction of what countries already spend on health

  •  
    0%%

    of health ministries

    have disease surveillance systems that use weather and climate data despite the strong returns, climate services for health remain chronically underfunded and underbuilt. Most countries are underprepared when climate-driven health threats emerge

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    Adapting to Climate-Related Health Risks: The Economic Case for Climate Services for Health

    Climate change is driving a growing global health crisis, increasing the spread of disease and extreme weather impacts. This report outlines how investing in climate services for health — from early warning systems to resilient infrastructure — can help communities prepare, protect lives, and generate significant economic benefits.
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This report first appeared in www.wri.org on May 6th, 2026, and is reposted with permission.

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