Photo by saiko3p on iStock
February 12, 2025
Authors
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Manager, Climate and Nature, BSR
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Associate, Climate and Nature, BSR
Key Points
- Public health and business health are directly affected, both positively and negatively, by climate change and nature.
- Integrating health equity into climate and nature strategies enhances both business resilience and prosperity.
- BSR’s Centering Health Equity in Climate Action (CHEC) initiative has developed a new toolkit that outlines four steps to start prioritizing health equity in climate action efforts.
As the world experiences escalating physical and chronic effects of climate change, such as intensifying wildfires in California, extreme cold across the United States, and the increase in floods, hurricanes, and droughts globally, the well-being of people, the planet, and businesses is increasingly affected. Against this backdrop, businesses need to recognize the interconnection between business health, human health, and environmental health, as all three are mutually dependent for long-term prosperity.
The Climate, Nature, and Health Interconnection
Climate, nature, and human health have always been deeply intertwined. The earth’s temperature, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation all impact respiratory issues, the spread of vector-borne diseases, and food and water availability.
However, the impacts on health from climate change and nature degradation are not felt equally. Vulnerable people are those who live in areas often hit hardest by extreme weather, do not have adequate resources to rebuild after climate disasters, and experience chronic illnesses and other health complications due to a lack of medical care and social and economic inequities. These individuals may already be suffering from health inequities due to a legacy of historical biases compounded by socioeconomic factors.
The Business Impacts of Public Health Inequality
Climate impacts challenge the business operating environment, as physical impacts disrupt operations and affect the people who play a vital role in business continuity. The impacts on public health, and especially the increase of health inequalities, intensify the challenges businesses already face. This is due to supply chain disruptions, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and employee retention issues. Take the following as examples:
- In 2020, over 295 billion working hours were forfeited due to heat waves.
- Over 60 percent of workers insured through their employer have a chronic health condition that is susceptible to extreme heat and air pollution.
- By 2030, heat stress is projected to reduce working hours by 2.2 percent and GDP by US$2.4 billion globally.
- By 2050, climate change will cost US$12.5 trillion in economic losses and an additional US$1.1 trillion in healthcare costs.
However, for businesses that acknowledge and act on the climate, nature, and health nexus, the results are promising as for every dollar saved on direct healthcare costs, businesses and their employees get a return of US$2.30 in greater productivity and performance.
When businesses integrate promoting health equity into their climate and nature strategies, they create co-benefits that strengthen business resilience, support vulnerable communities, reduce healthcare costs, and promote a healthier and more prosperous society. Businesses can begin prioritizing health equity by integrating health considerations into existing climate and nature strategies. Here are some hypothetical examples:
Perhaps a business is considering procuring renewable energy in a few key geographies. To integrate health equity considerations, the business measures air quality in those geographies, identifies local populations disproportionately affected by poor air quality, and adjusts the project to ensure equitable, clean air access.
Perhaps a business is investing in a new, greener, manufacturing site. Green initiatives often have positive health benefits, such as reducing heat and pollution, promoting physical and mental health, and decreasing respiratory diseases. Businesses may invest in these activities and miss acknowledging, understanding, and measuring the health co-benefits.
Four Steps to Centering Health Equity in Climate Action
BSR’s Centering Health Equity in Climate Action (CHEC) Collaboration recently published the “Centering Health Equity in Climate Action Toolkit for Businesses” to help companies on their climate and health equity journeys. This toolkit demonstrates how climate change negatively impacts the health of vulnerable communities and, in turn, affects businesses, with real-life examples from CHEC members who have successfully integrated health equity into their existing sustainability initiatives.
The following four practical steps are expanded upon in the toolkit and offer businesses a path forward to center health equity within their climate strategies:
1) Understand the business’ climate and health equity impacts
Begin with a thorough assessment of where climate impacts from your business may have public health impacts along your value chain. It’s especially important to consider where inequitable effects on vulnerable populations may occur.
Identify where your company’s operations most significantly impact the environment and, in turn, people’s well-being. Prioritize the climate and health equity issues that are most important to your business and stakeholders. Collaborate with peer companies, NGOs, nonprofits, academics, and communities to understand key areas for action.
2) Start with the most impacted in your value chain
Identify the populations most affected by climate and health equity impacts within your value chain, as these are the groups for which your business holds the greatest responsibility.
Affected stakeholders are individuals, groups, or communities that are directly or indirectly impacted by a business’s operations, decisions, or policies. These stakeholders include customers, employees, investors, residents, small businesses, and marginalized groups whose social, environmental, or economic well-being may be influenced by the business’s activities.
Partnering with local community organizations can help to co-design initiatives which are more effective, as those directly impacted are both the most motivated and knowledgeable when it comes to developing useful solutions.
3) Measure, manage, and monitor
What gets measured gets managed. Begin by collecting data on your climate and health equity impacts and commit to ongoing measurement, management, and monitoring. With data insights, set goals based on clear insights and align them with your company’s sustainability targets. Integrate health equity into your sustainability strategy and regularly measure and report on progress toward goals.
4) Embed climate and health equity throughout your organization
Lasting change is only possible when initiatives are aligned to a business’ objectives, mission, and vision. All parties should be on board: from the board and executives to department leads and their teams.
The steps outlined above will require meaningful investment in the form of direct funding, expanded research and development, paid partnerships, or increased staffing. Incorporate climate and health equity into your decision-making processes, governance structures, and policy priorities to ensure they are evaluated and prioritized across the business as an enduring part of your strategy rather than a short-term project.
If interested in learning more about the climate, nature, and health intersection and how BSR can support you, please contact the Climate and Nature team.
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