“We are entering an era in which protecting worker health is proving essential to business continuity and long-term resilience,” said Eric White, Head of Climate Resilience, World Economic Forum
Geneva: The rise in global temperatures is likely to cause severe health risks and result in the loss of more than $1.5 trillion in productivity, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum on Thursday.
The loss will be borne mainly by sectors such as food and agriculture, the built environment, health, and healthcare.
The report, published ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2025, arrived as preparations intensify for COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
The findings highlight that adapting to extreme heat, infectious diseases, and other health risks accelerating due to climate change is now a strategic business imperative.
“We are entering an era in which protecting worker health is proving essential to business continuity and long-term resilience,” said Eric White, Head of Climate Resilience, World Economic Forum.
“Every year we delay embedding resilience into business decisions, the risks to human health and productivity climb and the costs of adaptation rise,” White added.
Sharing sector-specific vulnerabilities, the report showed that in food and agriculture, climate health impacts could lead to $740 billion in lost output, triggering serious consequences for global food security.
In the built environment sector, climate health impacts are projected to result in productivity losses of $570 billion.
Further, the health and healthcare sector stands to lose $200 billion in productivity due to workforce climate health illness, while rising climate-driven disease rates among the wider population could compound demand pressures.
The insurance industry, meanwhile, is projected to experience a sharp rise in climate health claims.
The report, developed in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), urged companies to act now to protect workforce health, build operational resilience, and safeguard productivity before the costs of climate adaptation become unmanageable.
It showed that investing early in climate health adaptation can benefit beyond risk mitigation, unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth while meeting emerging market needs.
This includes developing climate-resilient crops that protect food systems, heat-stable medications that expand medicine availability, cooling technologies that keep construction workers safe, and new insurance models protecting communities against climate health shocks, the report said.