Climate-Related Health Risks for Business: From Evidence to Resilient Action

Climate change is already affecting human health, work and economic activity. Rising temperatures, heat stress, extreme weather, infectious disease patterns, air pollution and other climate-sensitive hazards increasingly affect workers, productivity, occupational safety, continuity and supply chains. These impacts are felt in both the Global North and the Global South, but differ in exposure, vulnerability and adaptive capacity.

The proposed side event brings together climate and health science, corporate governance, digital and data-driven approaches and business perspectives. It asks how companies can translate scientific evidence on climate-related health risks into concrete risk management, worker protection, adaptation and resilience strategies.

The discussion will connect scientific knowledge with the practical needs of companies, investors, insurers and policymakers. It will examine how data, digital tools and warning systems can help identify risks across sites, workforces and value chains. It will also address governance, sustainability reporting, due diligence, occupational health and safety, and corporate accountability.

By combining academic expertise with business perspectives from different regions, the event aims to move climate-health risks from abstract concern to implementation. The expected outcome is a concise risk-to-action framework linking climate hazards, health impacts, exposure, data needs, governance implications and adaptation responses.