Bridging climate and health data for decision making

Climate change is increasingly recognised as a public health crisis, with extreme weather events intensifying the risk of climate-sensitive diseases and placing additional strain on already vulnerable health systems. Integrating climate and health data is critical to anticipating these risks and strengthening public health preparedness and response. This report presents outcomes from the 9th session of the WHO Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Innovation Forum, co-hosted with Data.org, which convened experts from academia, public health, and civil society to explore barriers and solutions to integrating climate and health data for decision-making. Participants from institutions including Data.org, the University of Cape Town’s Climate System Analysis Group, New York University, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and SilverLining shared insights on the use of downscaled climate models, cloud-based infrastructures, and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Key themes included the need to move from a data-first to a decision-first approach; democratise access to high-resolution climate data; address inequities in funding and analytical capacity, particularly in the Global South; and foster interdisciplinary communities of practice. Challenges such as incompatible data structures, limited local capacity, and inequitable access to computational resources were addressed through innovative examples such as cloud-based climate stacks, integrated forecasting tools, and capacity-building hubs. Moving forward, the forum emphasised strengthening technical infrastructure, data interoperability, and local empowerment as essential to bridging climate and health disciplines and ensuring equitable, data-driven public health responses in a warming world.