Climate change impacts

Climate change is no longer a distant future concern. We are seeing warming, extreme weather events, and declining resource availability in the present. There are increasing impacts to water availability, food security, electricity, public health, and safety. These impacts disproportionately harm impoverished and marginalized communities, and the developing world. Worsening climate change and extreme weather events could cause disruption, damage, and failure of infrastructure and supply chains, leading to large economic losses. Declining resource availability may also aggravate political tensions and cause shifts in power or outright conflict. As impacts grow, there is increasing public concern and urgency for action. Rapid action is needed to both stop climate change and improve infrastructure to use and distribute limited resources efficiently.

Sustainable Health Systems - Visions, Strategies, Critical Uncertainties and Scenarios by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with McKinsey & Company explores what health systems might look like in 2040. To answer this question, they worked with 200 health experts, policy-makers and health system leaders to develop visions, strategies, critical uncertainties, and scenarios.

World Economic Forum identified 20 key drivers that are influencing the future of health systems through a series of interviews with experts. Two of these drivers- climate change and incidence of infectious diseases were identified in the Horizon 2030-2060 Metastudy as related to climate change impacts.

The World in 2040: The future of healthcare, mobility, travel and the home by Ray Hammond for Allianz Partnersexplores 7 megatrends for 2040, one of which is climate change. The impacts of climate change may be worse than we previously thought. The frequency of extreme weather events is projected to double by 2040. It is unclear whether the public will be able to pressure governments to take action. Nevertheless, coordinated and drastic global action is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Driving Forces 2035 Cards by Singapore Government Centre for Strategic Futures is a set of cards intended to start conversations about key forces of change that will shape Singapore in the next 20 years. the cards are geared towards policymakers and are meant to be used in a workshop setting. One of the cards, Evolution of the water-energy-food-land nexus, notes that climate change is likely to disrupt resource supply and distribution.

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