Climate and health: The new business imperative
 

While COP30 sparked headlines, the real story is unfolded outside the negotiation halls: the climate crisis is accelerating, and its health consequences are impacting vulnerable communities while also hitting economies and supply chains. Businesses in particular are realising that disruptions from heat-related productivity losses, food system volatility, escalating public health burdens and more are no longer future risks; they’re already here.

Across sectors, one message keeps surfacing: the climate crisis is a public health crisis — and inaction carries real operational and financial costs. Scientific bodies, health agencies and investors are signaling the same shift: companies must adapt their strategies or face compounding risks across people, supply chains and markets. 

At Forum for the Future, we’ve been tracking this shift closely. It’s why we convened the Climate and Health Coalition in 2021 — to mobilise the private sector to address the climate and health crisis and start acting on the systemic risks and opportunities at their intersection. Our recent heat resilience paper outlines the operational and workforce risks businesses must prepare for, and our updated Climate and Health Toolkit for Food Businesses now includes a business case for blue protein's role in restoring ecosystems and supporting more resilient food systems.

Integrating climate and health into strategy isn’t optional anymore — it’s becoming a core driver of resilience, innovation and market leadership.
Is your organisation keen on accelerating practical, scalable solutions that protect people and build system-wide resilience? Join the Climate and Health Coalition to drive coordinated action at the intersection of climate and health — and help shape solutions that deliver real impact where it is needed most.
Heat resilience: An opportunity for cross-sector action in the United States

Each year, extreme heat kills more than 1,300 people in the United States, making it the leading climate-related cause of death — surpassing hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. Yet, the crisis remains largely invisible. 

Developed by Forum for the Future and Trane Technologies through the Climate and Health Coalition, this new white paper is a call to collective action on one of the most urgent and overlooked climate challenges. 

Drawing on six months of collaboration with experts and practitioners across business, healthcare, government and community organisations, this paper outlines what it will take to protect people, communities and economies from intensifying heat.
Download now

Blue protein and the business case for climate-resilient nutrition

Blue protein — fish, seaweed, micro-algae and shellfish — offers a high-potential response to the intersecting crises of climate and health. When farmed sustainably and equitably, it can deliver nutrient-dense food while storing carbon and restoring ocean ecosystems, providing a credible alternative to land and emissions-intensive protein sources.

The question now is clear: how can businesses accelerate sustainable blue protein production and make these options more accessible to consumers?

Supported by the Waterloo Foundation, we have just released an update to the Climate and Health Coalition toolkit for food businesses, exploring the case for business action, providing case studies and recommendations to address the interconnected issues of climate, health and our food and agriculture systems.
Explore the toolkit

Looking for a partner on your sustainability journey?


Whether by co-creating future-fit strategies, supporting effective implementation, providing strategic advice on key issues, or convening multi-stakeholder coalitions, Forum can help your organisation drive transformational change.
Find out more
The School of System Change
Spring 2026 Course: Delta, An Introduction to Systems Change
With a cohort of spirited changemakers, learn to unlock new pathways to approach your most pressing challenges on Delta, a five-week introduction to systems change, starting in March. Join an information session and apply by 12 February 2026.
Short Course: 33 Days of Systemic Reflections
If you're feeling overwhelmed by work and the world right now, the School invites you to take a breath and reflect on how you want to develop your changemaking practice through 33 days of Systemic Reflections — a short email course with daily writing prompts. 
Follow the School on LinkedIn for more stories and subscribe to their newsletter for the latest on systems change courses, resources, opportunities, and events.
Events
Sustainable Foods 2026,  28-29 January 2026, London
We are partnering with Sustainable Foods 2026, hosted at the Business Design Centre in London. With sustainability high on the global agenda, this is a must-attend event for anyone shaping the future of food. Explore key themes including food security and financing the transition, health and sustainability integration, regenerative agriculture and soil health, net zero supply chains and food waste solutions, consumer behaviour, water scarcity and more. Register now and get a 10% discount. 
In the news
 

  • Hort News features insights from Forum's recent report mapping the future of UK orchard fruit.

  • Dr. Sally Uren, Executive Director and Chief Acceleration Officer, shares her thoughts on the interconnected nature of personal and organisational resilience in her latest Trellis column.

  • James Payne, Director, Purpose of Business, makes the case for boards not to 'go quiet' on key issues impacting their business, in this piece on Board Agenda.
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