The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified six interventions governments can prioritise to reduce climate-related health risks, including heat-related deaths, unsafe water, poor sanitation, and air pollution from household fuels.
The measures range from establishing heat-health warning systems and strengthening water and sanitation services to expanding access to cleaner household energy and introducing fiscal policies that make fossil fuels more expensive.
In a technical report released on November 4, WHO assesses the potential health and economic gains from implementing the interventions across 187 countries. Its analysis suggests that five of the six measures, for which both costs and benefits could be calculated, could avert an estimated 360,000 deaths annually and generate US$879.19 billion in annual economic benefits against implementation costs of US$35.42 billion.
WHO places heat-health warning systems among the interventions with the highest estimated returns. The systems alert authorities and communities to dangerous temperatures, allowing health services and other institutions to prepare and take measures to protect vulnerable populations.
The report estimates that expanding these systems could avert about 100,000 deaths annually, generate US$194.28 billion in economic benefits and cost approximately US$230 million a year, representing an estimated benefit-cost ratio of 836 to one.
The second group of interventions addresses the vulnerability of water, sanitation and hygiene services to climate-related shocks, with WHO recommending climate-resilient, safely managed drinking-water systems, basic sanitation and hand hygiene services.
Its estimates suggest that climate-resilient drinking-water services could avert 60,000 deaths annually and deliver US$132.81 billion in economic benefits, against costs of US$17.79 billion. Climate-resilient basic sanitation could avert 30,000 deaths, with estimated benefits of US$90.63 billion against costs of US$6.43 billion. Investment in climate-resilient hand hygiene could avert a further 80,000 deaths annually. WHO estimates economic benefits of US$194.93 billion against costs of US$5.82 billion.
The findings place water and sanitation infrastructure within the climate-health agenda, rather than treating access to these services solely as a conventional development challenge.
WHO also identifies the transition to cleaner household energy as a priority for reducing health risks and greenhouse gas emissions. The report estimates that cleaner household energy could avert 90,000 deaths annually and prevent 320 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the assessed period. It puts the annual economic benefits at US$266.54 billion, against costs of US$5.15 billion.
The sixth intervention focuses on fiscal policies that price fossil fuels more efficiently. WHO argues that such policies can deliver health gains by reducing fossil-fuel use and the air pollution associated with combustion, while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The report estimates annual economic benefits of US$3.04 trillion and fiscal benefits of US$5.44 trillion from these policies. It also estimates that the measures could avert 16.35 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the assessed period.
