How investing more in nature can help human, community and planetary health to thrive

Climate change and nature loss are twin crises that are damaging planetary and public health. Extreme temperatures and weather events, pollution and food insecurity are already claiming millions of lives each year and this is set to increase in years to come.

Extreme weather events alone affect roughly 189 million people annually, according to the World Economic Forum’s Health Impacts of Climate Change report, with developing countries experiencing 79% of recorded deaths. Our changing climate is not just a health crisis, it is a health equity crisis.

Ironically, the healthcare sector, whose core aim is to protect and heal, has a sizable environmental footprint. The research and development, manufacture and delivery of medicines is energy- and resource-intensive and the sector currently contributes around 5% of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, the discovery, development and manufacture of innovative and life-changing medicines also depends on the resources of the natural world, including land and water use.

This interdependency means the health sector has a profound responsibility to take action against global sustainability challenges by reducing GHG emissions, pollution and natural resource extraction. It must also invest in high-quality nature-based solutions and work collectively to accelerate science-led action across value chains. Systems-level thinking and change will achieve greater harmony with the natural world.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, “nature-based solutions leverage nature and the power of healthy ecosystems to protect people, optimize infrastructure and safeguard a stable and biodiverse future”. These solutions play a significant role in climate mitigation and are estimated to generate more than 30% of the emissions reductions needed to limit global warming. Beyond this, they play a crucial role in addressing biodiversity loss, restoring natural habitats and supporting communities to adapt by improving health and socio-economic conditions.

Nature-based solutions are already helping the healthcare industry and its stakeholders to halt and reverse nature loss, mitigate climate change and support adaptation. Here are three ways current projects are doing this:

Reforestation programmes led by ecological experts and local communities can contribute to the absorption of carbon dioxide and support human health by protecting water resources. This increases food security and nutrition, lowers surface and air temperatures and combats air pollution. Landscape restoration can also support the creation of new jobs and skills, and protect natural ecosystems, enabling the recovery of threatened and endangered species.

AZ Forest, for example, is AstraZeneca’s global reforestation programme, through which the company has committed to plant and maintain 200 million trees across six continents by 2030. This initiative aims to contribute to climate action, promote biodiversity and support the health of local communities through the co-benefits of reforestation.

By 2030, AZ Forest is expected to restore more than 100,000 hectares of land. Almost 20 million trees have already been planted through scientific collaboration and partnerships with charities, research institutes and private organizations including One Tree Planted, the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, Biophilic Ambipar in Brazil and Inova land in Ghana.

Unlocking impact at scale means acting together. Members of the pharma sector including GSK, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Takeda are partnering with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to develop a Roadmap to Nature Positive for pharmaceuticals. This will help identify key sector impacts, dependencies and priority actions, prepare for the emerging nature-related corporate performance and accountability frameworks, and drive collaborative action to address shared challenges.

Healthy freshwater ecosystems play an essential role in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Unfortunately, global frameworks and targets set so far have fallen short in responding adequately to the rapid loss of the world's rivers and wetlands.

The Freshwater Challenge is a country-led initiative established in response to this issue to support, integrate and accelerate the restoration of 300,000 kilometres of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands by 2030. It is supported by 46 countries and the EU and also covers conservation of intact freshwater ecosystems.

From a healthcare perspective, this endeavour aims to improve water quality, which can support good health and reduce disease prevalence.

Investing in the natural world is critical, but ultimately insufficient without broader efforts to reduce our impact on nature in the first place. At AstraZeneca, we are taking bold action to reduce our absolute waste by 10% by 2025 (from a 2015 baseline), while driving business growth.

The company is also taking measures to enable greater circularity in its approach to plastics, focused on the hierarchy of avoid, reduce, responsibly substitute, recycle and reuse. Plastic materials are used widely in the development and production of medicines, but by supporting behaviour and mindset change – as well as by substituting plastics that are challenging to recycle with alternative materials – the pharmaceutical industry can create a more circular economy for plastics and reduce our impact on nature.

It is clear that there is a huge opportunity – and need – to mitigate nature loss and increase investment in high-quality nature-based solutions. Today, nature-based solutions are severely underfunded, however. Only one-third of the levels of financing needed are available to help reach climate, biodiversity and land degradation targets by 2030.

Both the public and private sectors can address this gap by expanding investments in nature-based solutions. The window of opportunity to achieve greater harmony with our one and only planet is narrowing. We must act now to secure a healthier, liveable future to ensure that we not only survive, but thrive.