Displacement due to climate change is a significant threat to public health
In a statement published by Project Syndicate in 2025, the urgent need for pharmaceutical companies to address the health implications of the climate crisis was highlighted. The statement aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate.
According to the statement, each year, 21.5 million people are forcibly displaced due to natural disasters, a number that is expected to rise significantly by 2050, with up to 1.2 billion people potentially displaced due to the climate crisis. This mass migration poses direct and indirect threats to public health, exacerbating poverty, overcrowding, and social instability.
Climate-induced migration also has a profound impact on food production, with many regions experiencing severe disruptions to agriculture. Unsanitary living conditions resulting from displacement further fuel the spread of infectious diseases.
Jayasree K. Iyer, CEO of the Access to Medicine Foundation, emphasised the moral responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry to act in response to climate displacement. The Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent organisation that focuses on improving access to medicine, has been at the forefront of this issue.
Pharmaceutical companies are urged to adopt a four-pronged strategy to strengthen health-care systems. This includes improving the supply situation of health products for marginalised communities, promoting education and reducing stigma around medical treatments, bolstering biotechnology, ensuring compliance with regulations, and managing climate risk.
One example of a pharmaceutical company making strides in this area is the Sanity Group. They have made efforts to improve the supply situation of health products for marginalised communities by promoting education and reducing stigma around medical cannabis use, supporting patient information and dialogue as part of their programs.
The climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, but a global health emergency. Pharmaceutical companies play a crucial role in bolstering global health resilience, and their efforts in this regard are essential to mitigating the health impacts of the climate crisis.
The article is relevant to the topics of Manufacturing and Policy & Finance, and the regions of Africa and Cambodia are particularly impacted. In 2022, 3.2 million adults were displaced or evacuated due to natural disasters in the United States, underscoring the urgency of this issue on a global scale.
The article also discusses the importance of biotechnology, compliance, and climate risk in the context of the climate crisis, emphasising the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing this complex issue. As the climate crisis continues to escalate, the role of pharmaceutical companies in ensuring global health resilience becomes increasingly critical.
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