The impacts of climate change on societies and organizations: adaptations to protect health
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- 1 Hollnagel et al (2006) Resilience Engineering: Concepts and Precepts, doi.org/10.1201/9781315605685
- 2 Hamel G., Valikangas L., The Quest For Resilience, Harvard Business Review, vol. 81, no. 9, 2003, p (...)
1Organizational resilience has become vital in the face of climate change and its effects on human health and the environment. It is defined as “the capacity of a certain organization to maintain a state of dynamic stability, which allows it to continue its operations during and after a major incident or in the presence of a major stress.”1 To develop this capacity, societies and organizations have to tackle four types of challenges: cognitive, by accepting change; strategic, by imagining new options; political, by channeling resources to tomorrow’s activities, and ideological, by promoting a proactive search for opportunities.2
- 3 Mario Draghi, European Commission, The Future of European competitiveness, 2024.
- 4 United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come Hell and High Water. (...)
2The third part of FACTS explores solutions developed by societies and organizations to grow their resilience and protect human health and the environment in the face of ecological crises. In response to these challenges, the Draghi Report recommended that Europe invest 750 to 800 billion euros annually, with over half directed to the ecological transition.3 Similarly, the UNEP’s 2024 Adaptation Gap Report4 estimates that developing economies need between 215 and 387 billion dollars in financing a year up to 2030 to help adapt to climate change, a sum far greater than the 28 billion invested in 2022. This shows that an ambitious, collective approach is essential to generating meaningful change.
3Despite widespread acceptance of the global threat posed by the ecological crisis, resistance and divisions persist, pitting supporters of a slow transition against advocates of its acceleration. There is however, as presented by Laurence Bedeau with the results of the second Elabe Ecological Transformation Barometer, an emerging public consensus about the need to act quickly if our health is threatened.
- 5 World Health Organization, Urban health, https://www.who.int/health-topics/urban-health#tab=tab_1.
4In this context, there is a vital need for adaptations to our urban and living environments. With 55% of the world’s population living in towns and cities – an ongoing trend set to rise to 70% by 20505 – urban habitability is emerging as an essential factor in protecting human health. Melanie Lowe examines strategies for urban resilience, underlining the importance of transforming infrastructure to cut CO2 emissions, improve quality of life, mitigate climate risks and adapt to them. Beta Paramita describes the take-up of urban adaptation strategies in Indonesia, a country heavily exposed to the consequences of climate change, with help from BeCool, a reflective paint used to reduce indoor and outdoor temperatures. Choo-Yoon Yi and Chengzhi Peng suggest adapting and installing heat-health alert systems in care homes to protect elderly residents who are particularly vulnerable to heatwaves. This need to adapt involves every type of organization, even prisons – often seen as something of an environmental policy blind spot. Anouk Mousset and Julien Sipra explain the different ways in which penal establishments are trying to adapt to grow their resilience and protect prisoners’ health in the face of climate risks. There is a particular need to pay attention to adapting environments and living spaces located in the most vulnerable places and used by the most at-risk groups.
5Responsible for 5% of global carbon emissions, health systems are also affected by the impacts of climate change and have to make efforts to decarbonize. This topic is explored by Sandrine Bouttier-Stref, who takes a broader look at the question of the resilience of health systems. Her contribution shines a light on specific challenges climate change poses to health systems, including extreme climate events and the exacerbation of chronic diseases, and stresses the need to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of care.
6Guaranteeing adaptation also involves preventing and covering the climate risks that threaten human health. Françoise Gilles and Julia d’Astorg offer insights from a major insurance company into the complex interactions between climate and health risks that have to be understood to continue providing insurance in the world of tomorrow. Supporting research is clearly key to achieving this, for instance, by sponsoring scientific projects.
7Organizations of all types, not only in the insurance industry, need to innovate and ramp up their research and development efforts to boost their resilience. This subject is explored by Geneviève Leboucher and Sandrine Oberti, who examine the issues facing water service operators in an era of climate change. The authors highlight innovative solutions for tackling growing pressure on vital water resources while simultaneously ensuring that supply and sanitation systems are managed sustainably. Research and development efforts are resulting in the emergence of countless technological innovations. One example is Leko, an innovative, connected tool for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem health, presented by Sandrine Oberti and developed by Birdz. Lalit Gautam stresses the advantages artificial intelligence offers in anticipating the impacts of climate change on agriculture as part of efforts to bolster food security.
Notes
1 Hollnagel et al (2006) Resilience Engineering: Concepts and Precepts, doi.org/10.1201/9781315605685.
2 Hamel G., Valikangas L., The Quest For Resilience, Harvard Business Review, vol. 81, no. 9, 2003, pp. 52-63.
3 Mario Draghi, European Commission, The Future of European competitiveness, 2024.
4 United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Come Hell and High Water. Retrieved from: https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2024.
5 World Health Organization, Urban health, https://www.who.int/health-topics/urban-health#tab=tab_1.
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References
Bibliographical reference
“The impacts of climate change on societies and organizations: adaptations to protect health”, Field Actions Science Reports, Special Issue 27 | 2025, 86-87.
Electronic reference
“The impacts of climate change on societies and organizations: adaptations to protect health”, Field Actions Science Reports [Online], Special Issue 27 | 2025, Online since 15 December 2024, connection on 12 February 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/7788
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