Health at the Center of Climate Change

 

Health at the Center of Climate Change:

In the introduction to this series, a stunning fact was presented: The majority of the 40% of the world's population who are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change reside in the nations that are least to blame for it. It's also surprising that one of this group's least pressing issues is climate change. These communities struggle to achieve their basic needs and lack access to healthcare, food security, and water resources.

Although solving climate change and inequity, or addressing climate justice, demands looking beyond only environmental development, human well-being is undoubtedly one of the main causes of these issues. How can people combat the effects of climate change or contribute to finding solutions?

Businesses need to embrace end-to-end sustainability by taking steps to enhance not only the environment but also livelihoods, especially for disadvantaged people in their value chains. This is true of their many roles as employers, suppliers, and investors. And while all businesses can change their strategies to place an equal or greater emphasis on creating healthy communities, those that offer necessities like medical care and food have a special opportunity to create goals and plans that take into account overall well-being and that support the environment and society at the same time.

Whatever strategy a company chooses to implement this, it must make societal and environmental sustainability a core component of its operations and win the full backing of the leadership to ensure that all choices, investments, innovations, and measurement systems are meaningfully ingrained into the company. Here are five ideas to get you going.

Supplies Links

Companies must assess how and when they can support health and livelihoods across the full spectrum of their economic activities, as with their environmental footprints, and then take action across their supply and value chains. In a low-income neighbourhood, for instance, any business, regardless of its sector, can create a "anchor" facility that employs locals and promotes their well-being. For instance, pharmaceutical company Moderna recently disclosed plans to develop an mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant in Kenya. In addition to generating much needed vaccines for all of Africa, the plant will create new jobs in the area. Furthermore, given Moderna's commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, the corporation is probably going to construct the building with environmental sustainability in mind.

As part of their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, businesses can also set objectives that will both enhance the wellbeing of their suppliers in the short term and build a solid foundation for them to reduce their environmental footprints in the long run. For instance, the finance initiative Forever Better encourages vendors to address social and environmental challenges. The programme, which was created by the shoe and apparel business Puma and the International Finance Corporation, rewards suppliers who make the largest advancements in ESG metrics including lowering carbon emissions and enhancing working conditions.In contrast, Bayer's Better Life Farming initiative supports smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income nations by offering high-quality agricultural products like seeds and crop protection, as well as educational training in farm management, market access, and entrepreneurship, as well as environmental consulting. In nations like Indonesia and Mexico, the programme is now beginning to offer access to financing as well as health services, including advice on nutrition, family planning, and self-care.

2. Creativity

Businesses must also consider the demands of a variety of customers and communities when designing new goods and services, especially health care solutions. There is a chance to tailor solutions to this audience, who is looking for and prepared to pay for high-quality goods and services because 50% of the world's population lacks access to basic health services.

Companies must take into account the various social determinants of health (such as environmental factors), levels of faith in the healthcare system, and cultural norms in order to tailor health care for various populations and consumer demands. For instance, the health benefits provider United Health Group recently made a commitment to enhancing the training programmes at historically Black colleges and establishing scholarship programmes in order to create a more racially and ethnically diverse health workforce. A diverse workforce increases the likelihood that healthcare professionals will recognise the particular requirements of various patients and develop novel approaches to care. This has been shown to increase patient comfort, lessen health disparities among patients, and improve care quality.

Another such is Bayer's Consumer Health subsidiary, which by 2030 aims to increase access to basic healthcare for 100 million people in underserved areas. The company must reconsider its design if it is to succeed on the commercial and societal levels. It must develop items that cater to the particular medical requirements of underserved customers, boost product accessibility in real life, and do all of this at prices that regular customers can pay at stores they visit. As part of their commitment, Bayer started researching conditions like asthma, where a disproportionately high number of sufferers reside in areas with high levels of air pollution. The design, cost, and positioning of new products and services that meet their needs will be influenced by the findings of this research.

Another illustration is the Consumer Health branch of Bayer, which has set a target of increasing access to basic healthcare for 100 million people in underserved communities by 2030. The corporation needs to reconsider its design if it wants to be a commercial and societal success. It needs to develop items that address the particular medical requirements of underserved customers, expand the physical availability of those products, and accomplish all of that at prices that customers can pay in the stores they visit. As part of this commitment, Bayer has started researching conditions like asthma, which affects a disproportionately large population and is frequently associated with areas of high air pollution. New items and services that meet their needs will be designed, priced, and placed with the help of this study.

 3.Investment

It's critical that businesses view sustainability as a business-building strategy rather than as a distinct area of focus or a component of corporate social responsibility since achieving environmental and societal sustainability takes significant investment. Strategic planning that incorporates sustainability results in investment choices that consciously enhance human health and well-being, the environment, and a business' bottom line. Sustainability shouldn't be an afterthought; rather, it should be integrated into how a business future-proofs its operations as a whole.

It's crucial to create a measurable action plan as part of this. While many businesses collaborate with the Science Based Targets Initiative—a group that assists them in developing science-based, quantifiable emissions reduction targets—measuring standards centred on societal sustainable goals, like increased access to nutrition or healthcare, have proven more difficult to come by. For its Future Health Index, a research-based platform that demonstrates how nations around the world are creating the future of health care, the health technology giant Philips has been engaged in some interesting work in standardising criteria. Its all-encompassing "value measure" illustrates the value that healthcare systems provide in various markets, including its availability, cost, credibility, efficacy, and efficiency. When combined, these metrics can more accurately depict the complete impact and return on investment.

Bayer audits its sustainability work with the same rigour as its financial work in order to increase the precision of social sustainability targets. Additionally, the corporation has an external sustainability council and supervisory board group focused on progress and governance, and the compensation of its board of management is linked to progress toward all sustainability targets, not just environmental ones.

4. Policy Influence

Of course, establishing wholesome, resilient communities depends heavily on policy. Through employee policies, businesses can support current government health programmes and use their size to have a good impact on the public sector.

For instance, during the COVID-19 epidemic, numerous businesses improved and developed employee benefits to complement or complete in any gaps in government regulation. Benefits are frequently increased to provide access to and coverage for telemedicine, mental health, and more reproductive care services. Becton, Dickinson, and Company, a provider of medical technology, collaborates on infection prevention and control initiatives with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The project enhances phlebotomy techniques (blood collection) to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission. Public-private collaborations like this one have sped up the process of managing the pandemic in more than 50 countries and helped save 21 million lives by preventing millions of HIV infections.

Initiatives to increase resilience can simply assist people with their fundamental healthcare requirements rather than requiring legislative changes or new regulations. For instance, as part of its The Nutrient Gap Initiative, Bayer collaborates with the social enterprise reach52. By 2030, the alliance wants to increase access to vitamins and minerals for 50 million people living in disadvantaged areas. The groups are educating Kenyan community health volunteers to become reach52 agents. The agents will provide nutritional instruction and supplements that are specially tailored to the nutritional needs of hard-to-reach groups based on the nutrition data they gather.