Climate change is emerging as a major challenge for ageing societies, with extreme weather, pressure on healthcare systems and economic disruption increasingly interacting to shape
health outcomes, experts have warned.
Georgina Bedenham, Head of Climate and Disaster Risk at the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD), outlined the growing complexity of these risks during an International Longevity Centre UK (ILC UK) webinar examining the relationship between climate change, population ageing and health.
The event, “Unpicking the Web: Climate Change and Health”, brought together researchers and policymakers from Europe, Africa and Asia to examine how environmental shocks can affect people at different stages of life — and why older populations may face particular vulnerabilities.
Bedenham argued that climate-related risks should not be viewed separately. Flooding, storms and extreme heat can have immediate consequences, but their effects can also spread through wider social and economic systems.
Extreme weather can cause injuries, dehydration and heat-related illness, while floods and other disasters may also contribute to psychological distress. At the same time, damage to infrastructure can disrupt medical services, while weaker economic growth linked to climate impacts could place additional pressure on healthcare budgets.
The result is a chain of interconnected risks rather than a series of isolated events.
GAD has been developing a systems-based approach to map these relationships, drawing on research and discussions with stakeholders to examine how climate hazards can ultimately influence mortality in the UK. The work is intended to strengthen actuarial understanding of risks that are becoming increasingly difficult to assess through traditional models.
The wider webinar demonstrated that the challenge extends well beyond Britain.
Professor Liat Ayalon of the School of Social Work in Israel presented research from Togo showing how climate change can affect food security, social cohesion and migration among older people. Professor Torsten Kleinow of the Research Centre for Longevity Risk at the University of Amsterdam examined the relationship between European heatwaves and short-term increases in mortality.
Contributions from South Africa, Bangladesh and Europe underlined the sharply different ways climate risks can affect populations depending on geography, infrastructure, economic conditions and access to healthcare.
For governments, insurers and policymakers, the implications are increasingly significant. Longer life expectancy means that more people are living into ages when vulnerability to extreme temperatures and disruptions to health and social care can become more pronounced.
The actuarial sector therefore has a growing role in assessing how climate change could alter mortality, healthcare demand, public spending and long-term financial risks.
GAD said its continuing work is designed to improve understanding of these interconnected pressures and provide evidence for better policy decisions in an environment of increasing uncertainty.
The discussion also points to a broader policy question for ageing societies: whether health, climate and economic planning can continue to be treated as separate issues when shocks in one system can rapidly generate consequences across the others.
The webinar was co-hosted by ILC UK, the ILC Global Alliance Climate Change Committee and GAD. A recording of the event is available through the ILC UK webinar programme. Photo by gov.uk
