World Economic Forum Roundup
Seed Global Health traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January to advocate for the global health workforce and action on climate change and health.
Our CEO Dr. Vanessa Kerry participated in a World Economic Forum strategic dialogue about climate change and health with Brazil’s Minister of Health Nísia Trindade Lima, President of the National Academy of Medicine Victor Dzau, Wellcome Trust’s Director of Research Programmes Cheryl A. Moore, and Bayer CEO Bill Anderson. Watch the conversation.
Seed also partnered with AstraZeneca to convene global health and environmental leaders for a roundtable discussion on how health care systems can adapt to climate change-induced challenges. Read more about the discussion in this Devex article, “Five Ways to Strengthen Health Systems in the Face of Climate Change.”
Key takeaways to shape the way forward:
✅ The world is still too far from securing the financing needed to close equity and adaptation gaps at the nexus of climate and health. According to the UN Environmental Programme, we need more than $390 billion annually – far less than what has been committed to date. In this sense, the World Economic Forum was a missed opportunity to move the climate and health financing agenda forward, given the world’s largest corporations and philanthropic partners were gathered in one place. These leaders possess the financial resources to significantly transform investments toward creating a more just, healthy, and equitable world. We must push them to act.
✅ Governments alone cannot bear the burden of mitigating and adapting to climate change. Public, private, and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) must play a key role in demanding action to reduce emissions and speed up adaptation measures. We all have a role to play in forming these partnerships and spurring them to meaningful action.
✅ Health ministers are beginning to wield significant influence on the global stage. We need their voices to sound the alarm on the health impacts of climate change. It was encouraging to see health ministers such as Nisia Trindade Lima of Brazil take center stage at the World Economic Forum and last year at COP28 in Dubai. We look forward to working with Minister Trindade and her team on Brazil’s priorities for the G20 and COP30.
✅ We need action on financing for climate and health now. We cannot afford to wait: A new report published by the World Economic Forum shows that by 2050, climate change could contribute to an additional 14.5 million deaths, $12.5 trillion in economic losses, and the loss of more than two billion healthy life years.
Over the course of 2024, we must continue to raise awareness about the health implications of climate change and push global leaders to action – particularly with regards to financing and ensuring that funding gets to the countries and communities who need it most.
